Community Involvement In Child Birth: The Case Of West Gonja District In The Northern Region Of Ghana

Abstract

Background: Most obstetric complications are preventable if adequate preparations are made to avoid delays during obstetrics emergencies. The aim of this study was to assess the level of community involvement in preventing complications to mother and
new born during pregnancy and labour.
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in 6 health facilities selected through purposive sampling. A sample size of 210 women was obtained through convenience sampling using structured questionnaires. The data was analysed using
SPSS software (version 23).
Discusion: The mean age of the respondents was 28.3 (SD=5.7). The great majority of the women have heard of danger signs of pregnancy (91.9%) and labour (76.2%). The common danger signs of pregnancy were Vomiting (26.0%), bleeding per vaginam (24.0%) and severe waist pain (21.1%). The common danger signs of labour were bleeding per vaginam (32.9%), big baby (23.8%) and retained placenta (11.0%). The major source of information on obstetrics danger signs was health care providers (91.0%) during antenatal visits.
The first and second decisions makers during obstetrics emergencies were husbands (85.1%) and mother-inlaws (57.2%), only 2.5% of the respondents can act as the first decision makers. The common support systems available for obstetrics emergencies in descending
order were; preparation of items for labour (28.6%), care taker at the hospital (19.4%), transportation to place of labour (14.4%) and choice of the place of labour (13.5%). Blood was commonly organized for women from the community with obstetric complications.
Conclusion: The study found that the respondents had very good knowledge of the danger signs of obstetrics emergencies. They have good community support systems for women in labour, but only very few of them can take their own decision during obstetrics
emergencies.