Abstract:
Background:
Although maternal mortality has decreased substantially since the 1990s, it remains one
of the top priorities in global health, as most deaths can be prevented if women have
access to and utilise skilled health personnel for childbirth delivery. While efforts have
been made to increase the supply and accessibility of services, the lack of maternal
utilisation of skilled health delivery services is a contributing cause of death, particularly
among mothers from rural areas.
Methods:
We conducted interviews in December 2019 in the Eastern Region of Ghana, with 24 rural
mothers who had given birth within the past two years, 12 women who had and 12 women
who had not given birth utilising skilled health personnel.
Results:
The main differences between women who did and did not use skilled health personnel
for delivery were for Health Belief Model constructs of perceived risk, self-efficacy, and
cues to action. Most women who delivered with skilled health personnel believed they
were susceptible to complications during childbirth, reported high perceived self-efficacy
to overcome barriers to deliver with skilled health personnel, and planned and prepared
in advance to deliver with skilled health personnel. In contrast, women who did not
deliver with skilled health personnel were less likely to believe in susceptibility to
complications, reported low perceived self-efficacy to overcome barriers, and had not
planned or prepared in advance for skilled health delivery.
Conclusions:
There were substantial differences between rural mothers who did and did not deliver
with skilled health personnel regarding perceived susceptibility to experience
complications, self-efficacy to overcome barriers and cues to action to prepare for birth.
