Journal article
“Everything is from God but it is always better to get to the hospital on time”
published 17 July 2020
published 17 July 2020
Zelee Hill and her co-authors aimed to identify facilitators and barriers for women to deliver their babies in health facilities in Gombe State, North East Nigeria. The team conducted narrative and in-depth interviews with women who had already delivered in a health facility, as well as their family members and community health workers.
Results from the study show that a safe delivery was the main motivator for a facility delivery and the women and families who chose a facility delivery had a desire to be modern and rejected traditional practices. On the flip-side, decision-making power, social norms, accessibility, cost and perceived poor quality of care were reported as barriers.
By studying both facilitators and barriers to facility delivery authors conclude that there is a need for further interventions to address a wide rang of issues at multiple levels which contribute to low levels of facility delivery despite the high rates of maternal mortality prevalent in Nigeria.