Ngatho S Mugo
University of Sydney, Australia
Title: Risk factors associated with different types of birth attendants for home deliveries: A crosssectional data analysis of 2010 south Sudan household survey
Biography
Biography: Ngatho S Mugo
Abstract
Background: In South Sudan, home deliveries attended by un-skilled birth attendants put the mother and her newborn at increased risk of perinatal morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to identify risk factors associated with home delivery by unskilled birth attendants or unassisted delivery. Methods: We examined data for 2,767 (weighted total) women aged 15-49 years who delivered at home two years prior to South Sudan Household Health Survey 2010. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to identify risk factors for home delivery by unskilled birth attendants. Results: The prevalence of unassisted home delivery, un-skilled birth attendants and skilled birth attendants (SBAs) was 19% [95% confidence interval (CI): (17.0, 20.5)], 45% [95% CI: (42.4, 47.0)] and 36% [95% CI: (34.2, 38.6)] respectively. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the following were associated with an increased odds for unassisted deliveries, or by unskilled birth attendants: mothers with no schooling, mothers who did not attend antenatal care (ANC) during pregnancy, mother who had lower quality of ANC services, mothers from poor households, and mothers who had no prior knowledge about obstetric danger signs. Conclusions: This study found that non-utilization of maternal health care services, such as ANC, was significantly associated with unattended home birth or home birth attended by un-skilled health providers. To increase uptake of SBAs at home delivery will require easier access to ANC services, health promotion of the importance and benefits of the use of SBAs for delivery, targeting both mothers and their families, and training and deployment of more skilled birth attendants across the country.