Humanised childbirth: the status of emotional support of women in rural Bangladesh

Figures & data

Table 1. Background characteristics of study respondents

Background characteristics	All	Facility Birth	Home Birth	P-value
	N = 1367	N = 503	N = 864
	%	%	%
Age
≤ 24 years	48.4	52.1	46.3	0.012
25–34 years	43.7	42.5	44.3
≥35 years	7.9	5.4	9.4
Education
Secondary incomplete (0-9 years)	79.1	64.8	87.4	0.000
Secondary complete or higher (≥10 years)	20.9	35.2	12.6
Religion
Muslim	97.4	96.6	97.8	0.189
Other (Hindu/ Christian etc.)	2.6	3.4	2.2
Family Size
≤4	24.8	29.8	21.9	0.001
≥5	75.2	70.2	78.1
Parity
Nulliparous	30.1	37.9	25.6	0.000
Multiparous	69.7	61.6	74.3
Type of birth attendant
Doctor	34.1	90.1	1.5	0.000
Nurse, midwife, paramedic, family welfare visitors	6.4	8.4	5.2
Community health workers	0.5	0.4	0.58
Traditional birth attendant or other	59.0	1.2	92.7
Place of birth
Home	63.2	N/A	N/A	0.000
Public facility	3.3	9.0	N/A
Private facility	33.5	91.0	N/A
ANC from a health facility
No	36.9	18.9	47.3	0.000
Yes	63.1	81.1	52.7
Husband living status
With wife	55.4	51.5	57.8	0.025
Lives in another place within the country or abroad	44.6	48.5	42.2
Income generating activities
No	95.8	96.8	95.2	0.163
Yes	4.2	3.2	4.8
Wealth quintile
Lowest	20.0	10.1	25.8	0.000
Second	20.0	17.9	21.2
Middle	20.0	18.7	20.8
Fourth	20.0	22.1	18.8
Highest	20.0	31.2	13.4

Table 2. Status of emotional support during labour and childbirth among women who had a recent history of childbirth

Emotional support	All	Facility birth	Home birth	P-values (from chi2)
	N = 1367	N = 503	N = 864
	%	%	%
Had a companion of choice during labour or childbirth	67.7	55.5	74.8	.000
Were allowed to eat and drink during labour	59.3	33.6	74.3	.000
Were allowed to be ambulatory during the first stages of labour	70.7	46.1	84.9	.000
Offered or allowed to give birth in the position of their choice	43.8	26.6	53.8	.000

Figure 1. Type of birth companion among women who had a companion of choice during childbirth (multiple responses considered)

Table 3. Association between different components of emotional support during childbirth and background characteristics among women giving birth in a facility (N = 503)

	Had a companion of choice during labour or childbirth			Offered or allowed to give birth in the position of their choice			Were allowed to eat and drink during labour			Were allowed to be ambulatory during the first stages of labour
	%	OR (CI)	AOR (CI)	%	OR (CI)	AOR (CI)	%	OR (CI)	AOR (CI)	%	OR (CI)	AOR (CI)
Age of woman
15–24	57.6	Ref	Ref	26.7	Ref	Ref	34.7	Ref	Ref	47.7	Ref	Ref
25–34	52.3	0.81 (0.56–1.2)	__	26.6	0.99 (0.66–1.5)	__	31.8	0.87 (0.60–1.3)	__	44.4	0.87 (0.61–1.3)	__
35+	59.3	1.1 (0.48–2.4)	__	25.9	0.96 (0.39–2.4)	__	37.0	1.1 (0.49–2.5)	__	44.4	0.88 (0.40–1.9)	__
Education
0–9 years	58.3	Ref	Ref	29.8	Ref	Ref	34.1	Ref	Ref	46.3	Ref	Ref
10 or more years	50.3	0.72 (0.50–1.0)	0.72 (0.47–1.1)	20.9	0.62 (0.40–0.96)	0.63 (0.39–1.0)	32.8	0.94 (0.64–1.4)	__	45.8	0.98 (0.68–1.4)	__
Religion
Muslim	57.2	Ref	Ref	26.9	Ref	Ref	33.9	Ref	Ref	46.5	Ref	Ref
Other	5.9	0.05 (0.01–0.36)	0.05 (0.01–0.36)	17.7	0.58 (0.16–2.1)	__	23.5	0.60 (0.19–1.9)	__	35.3	0.63 (0.23–1.7)	__
Family size
≤4	59.3	Ref	Ref	32.7	Ref	Ref	31.3	Ref	Ref	48	Ref	Ref
≥5	53.8	0.80 (0.54–1.2)	__	24.1	0.65 (0.43–0.99)	0.66 (0.42–1.0)	34.6	1.2 (0.77–1.7)	__	45.3	0.90 (0.61–1.3)	__
Parity
Nulliparous	50.3	Ref	Ref	22.3	Ref	Ref	33.5	Ref	Ref	50.3	Ref	Ref
Multiparous	58.7	1.4 (0.98–2.0)	1.2 (0.84–1.8)	29.4	1.5 (0.97–2.2)	1.4 (0.93–2.2)	33.9	1.0 (0.69–1.5)	__	43.9	0.77 (0.54–1.1)	__
Type of birth attendant
Nurses/midwives/paramedics	64.0	Ref	Ref	36	Ref	Ref	50	Ref	Ref	66.0	Ref	Ref
Doctor	54.5	0.67 (0.37–1.2)	__	25.6	0.61 (0.33–1.1)	0.55 (0.28–1.1)	31.8	0.47 (0.26–0.84)	0.53 (0.28–0.97)	44.0	0.40 (0.22–0.75)	0.48 (0.26–0.91)
Type of health facility
Public facility	71.1	Ref	Ref	31.1	Ref	Ref	51.1	Ref	Ref	66.7	Ref	Ref
Private facility	53.9	0.48 (0.24–0.93)	0.52 (0.26–0.99)	26.2	0.79 (0.40–1.5)	0.55 (0.29–1.0)	31.9	0.45 (0.24–0.83)	0.55 (0.29–1.0)	44.1	0.39 (0.21–0.75)	0.49 (0.25–0.97)
ANC from facility
No	38.9	Ref	Ref	13.7	Ref	Ref	35.8	Ref	Ref	45.3	Ref	Ref
Yes	59.3	2.3 (1.4–3.6)	2.5 (1.6–4.0)	29.7	2.7 (1.4–4.9)	2.6 (1.4–5.0)	33.1	0.89 (0.56–1.4)	__	46.3	1.0 (0.67–1.6)	__
Husband living status
Lives with wife	56.4	Ref	Ref	25.5	Ref	Ref	32.8	Ref	Ref	43.2	Ref	Ref
Lives in other places within the country or abroad	54.5	0.93 (0.65–1.3)	__	27.9	1.1 (0.76–1.7)	__	34.4	1.1 (0.74–1.6)	__	49.2	1.3 (0.89–1.8)	__
Income generating activities
No	55.9	ref	Ref	27.3	ref	Ref	34.1	Ref	Ref	46.4	Ref	Ref
Yes	43.8	0.61 (0.23–1.7)	__	6.3	0.18 (0.02–1.4)	0.16 (0.02–1.3)	18.8	0.45 (0.13–1.6)	__	37.5	0.69 (0.25–1.9)	__
Wealth quintile
Lowest	70.6	Ref	Ref	45.1	Ref	Ref	51.0	Ref	Ref	64.7	Ref	Ref
Second	53.3	0.48 (0.23–0.99)	0.50 (0.24–1.1)	23.3	0.37 (0.18–0.77)	0.37 (0.18–0.79)	32.2	0.46 (0.23–0.93)	0.47 (0.23–0.97)	45.6	0.46 (0.22–0.93)	0.47 (0.23–0.97)
Middle	50	0.42 (0.20–0.86)	0.48 (0.22–1.0)	20.2	0.31 (0.15–0.65)	0.35 (0.16–0.75)	34.0	0.50 (0.25–0.99)	0.54 (0.27–1.1)	44.7	0.44 (0.22–0.89)	0.48 (0.24–0.99)
Fourth	52.3	0.46 (0.22–0.93)	0.54 (0.25–1.1)	24.3	0.39 (0.19–0.79)	0.45 (0.22–0.94)	29.7	0.41 (0.21–0.81)	0.42 (0.21–0.84)	47.8	0.50 (0.25–0.99)	0.52 (0.26–1.0)
Highest	57.3	0.56 (0.28–1.1)	0.69 (0.33–1.4)	28.0	0.47 (0.25–0.91)	0.62 (0.31–1.2)	31.2	0.44 (0.23–0.83)	0.48 (0.25–0.93)	40.1	0.37 (0.19–0.71)	0.41 (0.21–0.79)

Table 4. Association between different components of emotional support during childbirth and background characteristics among women giving birth at home (N = 864)

	Had a companion of choice during labour or childbirth			Offered or allowed to give birth in the position of their choice			Were allowed to eat and drink during labour			Were allowed to be ambulatory during the first stages of labour
	%	OR (CI)	AOR (CI)	%	OR (CI)	AOR (CI)	%	OR (CI)	AOR (CI)	%	OR (CI)	AOR (CI)
Age of woman
≤ 24 years	73.8	Ref	Ref	52.0	Ref	Ref	75.8	Ref	Ref	86.3	Ref	Ref
25–34 years	75.7	1.1 (0.80–1.5)	__	52.7	1.0 (0.78–1.4)	1.0 (0.76–1.3)	73.4	0.88 (0.64–1.2)	__	84.1	0.84 (0.57–1.2)	__
≥35 years	75.3	1.1 (0.63–1.9)	__	67.9	2.0 (1.2–3.2)	1.9 (1.1–3.1)	71.6	0.81 (0.47–1.4)	__	82.7	0.76 (0.40–1.5)	__
Education of women
0–9 years	75.8	Ref	Ref	55.2	Ref	Ref	73.8	Ref	Ref	83.8	Ref	Ref
≥10 years	67.9	0.68 (0.44–1.0)	0.69 (0.45–1.1)	44.0	0.64 (0.43–0.96)	0.62 (0.41–0.94)	78.0	1.3 (0.78–2.0)	__	92.7	2.4 (1.2–5.1)	2.1 (0.94–4.5)
Religion
Muslim	75.2	Ref	Ref	54.0	Ref	Ref	74.8	Ref	Ref	85.3	Ref	Ref
Other	57.9	0.45 (0.18–1.1)	0.48 (0.19–1.2)	47.3	0.77 (0.31–1.9)	__	52.6	0.37 (0.15–0.93)	0.38 (0.15–0.96)	68.4	0.37 (0.14–0.99)	0.3 (0.11–0.87)
Family size
≤4	77.8	Ref	Ref	55.6	Ref	Ref	71.4	Ref	Ref	82.5	Ref	Ref
≥5	73.9	0.81 (0.55–1.2)	__	53.3	0.91 (0.66–1.3)	__	75.1	1.2 (0.84–1.7)	__	85.6	1.3 (0.82–1.9)	__
Parity
Nulliparous	74.8	Ref	Ref	53.6	Ref	Ref	74.8	Ref	Ref	84.2	Ref	Ref
Multiparous	74.8	1.0 (0.70–1.4)	__	53.9	1.0 (0.75–1.4)	__	74.1	0.97 (0.68–1.4)	__	85.2	1.1 (0.71–1.6)	__
ANC from facility
No	74.6	Ref	Ref	54.0	Ref	Ref	75.6	Ref	Ref	85.1	Ref	Ref
Yes	74.9	1.0 (0.75–1.4)	__	53.6	0.98 (0.75–1.3)	__	73.2	0.89 (0.65–1.2)	__	84.8	0.98 (0.67–1.4)	__
Husband living status
Lives with wife	73.8	Ref	Ref	51.3	Ref	Ref	72.0	Ref	Ref	83.4	Ref	Ref
Lives in other places within the country or abroad	76.2	1.1 (0.83–1.6)	__	57.3	1.3 (0.97–1.7)	1.4 (1.0–1.8)	76.2	1.2 (0.87–1.6)	__	87.1	1.3 (0.92–2.0)	1.1 (0.75–1.7)
Income generating act
No	74.5	Ref	Ref	53.8	Ref	Ref	74.2	Ref	Ref	84.7	Ref	Ref
Yes	80.5	1.4 (0.64–3.1)	__	53.7	0.99 (0.53–1.9)	__	75.6	1.1 (0.52–2.2)	__	90.2	1.7 (0.59–4.8)	__
Wealth quintile
Lowest	73.5	Ref	Ref	53.0	Ref	Ref	69.1	Ref	Ref	79.4	Ref	Ref
Second	77.1	1.2 (0.77–1.9)	__	59.6	1.3 (0.88–1.9)	__	82.0	2.0 (1.3–3.3)	2.0 (1.3–3.3)	86.3	1.6 (0.96–2.8)	1.6 (0.94–2.7)
Middle	75	1.1 (0.69–1.7)	__	57.2	1.2 (0.80–1.8)	__	70.0	1.0 (0.68–1.6)	1.1 (0.69–1.6)	83.3	1.3 (0.78–2.2)	1.2 (0.74–2.1)
Fourth	74.7	1.1 (0.67–1.7)	__	50.0	0.89 (0.59–1.3)	__	76.0	1.4 (0.89–2.2)	1.4 (0.91–2.3)	89.5	2.2 (1.2–4.0)	2.0 (1.0–3.6)
Highest	73.3	0.99 (0.59–1.6)	__	46.6	0.77 (0.49–1.2)	__	76.7	1.5 (0.88–2.5)	1.5 (0.89–2.5)	89.7	2.3 (1.1–4.4)	1.8 (0.89–3.7)

Figure 2. Reasons for not having a birth companion among women who did not have a companion of choice during childbirth (multiple responses considered)

Data availability statement

The datasets will be made available upon a valid request to the corresponding author (Ahmed Ehsanur Rahman, [email protected]).