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Well-educated middle class women and their preference for traditional rather than skilled birth attendants in Lagos Nigeria a qualitative study

Master of Public Health - MPH / Background:Theoutcomeofpregnanciesinmanyinstancesislargelypredicatedon
availabilityofSkilledBirthAttendants(SBAs).Despitethisphenomenon,illiteracyand
financialdisadvantagehavebeenvariouslycitedastwinfactorspromotingtheinterest
andpatronageofTraditionalBirthAttendants(TBAs)bywomenfolk.Itistherefore
expected thatwomenhavingtertiarylevelofeducationandpossessing adequate
economic resources would naturally prefer to use the SBAs.However,these
http://etd.uwc.ac.za/
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observationshavenotsignificantlyreflected therealityin thechoiceofmaternal
healthcareprovidersinNigeriaandthecityofLagosinparticular.Yet,accessto
maternalservicesoftheSBAshasbeenwidelyacceptedasoneoftheleadingwaysof
loweringmaternalmortality.Therefore,inordertoimprovethepatronageofSBAsand
correspondinglylowermaternaldeathrates,itbecomesimperativetounderstandthe
rationalebehindthepreferencefortheTBAs’usebywomenwhoarenotordinarily
expectedtodosobyvirtueoftheirhighlevelofeducationandgoodfinancialcapacity.
Aim:Theaim ofthisstudywastoexploreandunderstandtheexperiences,perception
and beliefsystems influencing well-educated,middle income women and their
reasoningfortheuseofTraditionalBirthAttendantsratherthanSkilledBirthAttendants
fordeliveryservicesinLagos,Nigeria.
Methodology:ThisisaqualitativestudyconductedinAlimoshoLocalGovernmentArea
ofLagosinNigeria.Tenwomenwithtertiarylevelofeducationandbelongingtomiddle
incomeeconomiccategorieswereenrolledasparticipants.Inaddition,itinvolved3
FocusGroupDiscussionscomprising7TraditionalBirthAttendantspergroup.
Results:Behaviouraland attitudinalshortcomings by the SBAs;misconceptions
regardingsurgicaldeliverybywomen;bureaucraticdelaysandbottlenecksexperienced
attheSBAs’centres;thebeliefbythewomenthatpregnancyisasacredandspiritual
eventwhichonlytheTBAshaveabilitytomanage;women’sconfidenceintheTBAsas
havingbettercapacitytomanagecertaincoexistingmedicalconditionsinpregnancy;
andmisinformationonmanagementmodalitiesforcertainconditionslikeinfertilityand
fibroidallcombinetoinfluencepreferenceforutilizationofTBAsbywell-educated,
middleincomewomeninthestudyarea.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:etd.uwc.ac.za:11394/8442
Date January 2021
CreatorsAderinwale, Adetayo Seun
PublisherUniversity of the Western Cape
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
RightsUniversity of the Western Cape

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