Journal of Pregnancy and Child Health
Open Access

Research Article

Preference of Birth Delivery Modes among Women Attending Antenatal and Postnatal Clinics in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana

Williams Walana^1*, Ekuban Kwabena Acquah¹, Juventus Benogle Ziem¹, Ezekiel Kofi Vicar¹, Samuel Ekuban Kwabena Acquah¹, Abubakar Sidik Muhiba², Justus Bennett Dedume², Ibrahim Wunpini Mashoud², David Zawumya Kolbilla³ and Sylvanus Kampo⁴

¹Department of Clinical Microbiology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

²Department of Nursing, School of Allied Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

³Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

⁴Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana

*Corresponding Author:

Williams Walana
Department of Clinical Microbiology
School of Medicine and Health Sciences
University for Development Studies
Tamale, Ghana
Tel: 243997017104
E-mail: walanawilliams@yahoo.com

Received date: November 21, 2016; Accepted date: January 20, 2017; Published date: January 25, 2017

Citation: Walana W, Acquah EK, Ziem JB, Vicar EK, Acquah SEK, et al. (2017) Preference of Birth Delivery Modes among Women Attending Antenatal and Postnatal Clinics in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana. J Preg Child Health 4:297. doi:10.4172/2376-127X.1000297

Copyright: © 2017 Walana W, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Introduction: Spontaneous vaginal delivery is the commonest mode of delivery globally, particularly in remote areas of resource constrained countries where modern healthcare is limited. This study sought to establish among antennal and post natal attendees, women’s preferences regarding modes of delivery and the factors influencing their choices of delivery. Methods: This cross sectional hospital based study was conducted at the antenatal and post-natal care units of the obstetrics and gynaecology department of the Tamale Teaching Hospital. Data on respondents’ demographic characteristics, their preferred mode of birth delivery, and the reasons influencing their choice of delivery modes were collected via a structured closed and opened ended questionnaire. Results: A total of 499 women were interviewed. Majority (86.6%), of the respondents were within the ages of 18 to 34 years with modal age of 30 years and a mean age of 27.9 ± 5.6 years. In all, 85.0% (424) and 12.0% (60) preferred spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) and SVD with epidural anaesthesia respectively, while 3.0% (15) preferred delivery by elective caesarean section (CS). Majority (97.2%) of the respondents took self-decisions on their preferred mode of delivery. However, those who were influenced by healthcare workers were 1%, while 0.4% was influenced by their husbands and other family members respectively. Conclusion: In conclusion, the study revealed that the respondents most preferred choice of mode of delivery was SVD, followed by SVD with epidural anaesthesia, with caesarean section being the least preferred. The respondents’ have relatively low external influence regarding their preferred choice of delivery.

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