Socio-cultural factors influencing the decision of women to seek care during pregnancy and delivery: A qualitative study in South Tongu District, Ghana

ABSTRACT

Many low-income countries still encounter high mortality rates. The use of maternal health care services is known to be a key intervention in reducing maternal death. Despite investment in the healthcare sector, in 2015 Ghana did not meet the Millennium Development Goal 5 of reducing maternal mortality (MM). The Volta Region registered the highest rate of MM, the lowest percentage of antenatal care (ANC) coverage and the lowest percentage of skilled delivery. This is a qualitative study that used focus group discussions and key-informant interviews to explore the views on pregnancy among rural communities in the Volta Region, identify the barriers in accessing ANC and skilled attendance birth and collect views on how to improve the access to maternal care services.

Overall, the study argues that members of the community of the rural villages acknowledge the benefits of ANC and skilled delivery, and the potential risk related to home delivery. However, pregnant women in the Volta Region still encounter different kinds of obstacles that prevent them from seeking maternal health care. These obstacles are driven by social and economic constraints, and by the fact that women may still lack voice in the decision-making process, and by low males’ participation.

KEYWORDS:

• Antenatal care
• Skilled delivery
• Socio-cultural factors
• South Tongu
• Ghana

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was obtained from KCL ethical approval board (MR/16/17-1091). The participants were told about the study objectives and that their participation was voluntary and they could withdraw at any time, without giving any reason. They were aware that although the conversation was audio-recorded, their identity would not be revealed. Verbal consent at the beginning of the FGDs and KIIs was obtained.

Consent for publication

Consent was obtained from participants to use anonymous quotes to be published in peer reviewed journal publications.

Availability of data and material

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.