SOCIO-ECONOMIC DETERMINANTS OF BIRTH AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PLANNING IN ANTENATAL CARE: A STUDY AMONG MOTHERS IN THE WA MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

Inadequate birth and emergency preparedness is a recipe for the development of complications that often lead to morbidities and mortalities during preeuaTIcy and child birth. Yet, little is known of the socio-economic factors that affect birth and emergency preparedness in the study area. Therefore, the objective of the study was to fill this gap by assessing the socio-economic determinants of birth and emergency preparedness among mothers in the Wa municipality. A faciiity based cross sectional study was employed to get information from mothers who had children not more than one year of age. Logistic regression was used to identify the determinants of birth and emergency preparedness and knowledge in danger signs of pregnancy. A total of 401 mothers participated in the study. It was revealed that 61.8% and 43.4% respectively of the respondents were adequately prepared for birth and knowledgeable in pregnancy danger signs. Less than half (33.8%) and 62.3% of the respondents respectively reported that they were accompanied by their husbands to the ANC clinic, and their last facility of delivery. In multivariate analysis, mothers who had attained at least secondary education (P< 0.001), who had high wealth index (P< 0.001), who had at most 2 children (P=O.035), who had four or more ANC visits (p=O.003), whose husbands were formally employed (P< 0.001), and whose husbands accompanied them to the ANC (P=O.033) were significantly more likely to prepare adequately for birth. These stood out as the major socio-economic determinants of birth and emergency preparedness. Women who had at least secondary education (P< 0.001), and who had heard of birth preparedness information in the health facility (P=O.014) were found to be significantly knowledgeable in danger signs of pregnancy in multivariate analysis. The study showed that birth preparedness occurs in the context of specific socio-economic factors that mould the behaviour of women towards birth preparedness services uptake. There is therefore the need for all stakeholders in the area of health to design interventions that address these determinants of birth preparedness, and also strengthen existing interventions that involve men in maternal health services.