| dc.description.abstract | Texila International Journal of Public Health
Volume 6, Issue 3, Sep 2018
Major Predisposing Factors to Utilization of Traditional Birth Attendants
by Expectant Mothers in Mombasa County, Kenya
Article by Johnson S. Manyiwa1, Oso W. Yuko 2, Bob O. Opiyo3
1Public Health Department-Mombasa County Kenya
2Amoud University
3Technical University of Mombasa
E-mail: johnstoneshume@gmail.com
Abstract
The role of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in improving maternal health has been heavily
debated, especially in the focus on Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5. The use of TBAs is still
high in Kenya; TBAs attend to 28% of all births, relatives attend to 21% of births, and 7% give birth
without any assistance. Up to 90% of these maternal and infant deaths are caused by obstetric
complications that are preventable. Understanding the factors that contributes to high utilization of
TBAs among Kenyan in spite of the free maternity being offered is very important. Hence, this study
aimed at determining and ascertaining the critical predisposing factors to utilization of TBAs by
expectant mothers in Mombasa County, Kenya. The study adopted a survey research design and was
conducted among expectant mothers using semi-structured questionnaire and interview guide. Data
was collected from June to September, 2017. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to
identify factors associated with utilization of TBAs by expectant mothers. Data was analysed using R
(version 3.4.3). The study recruited 370 (96.4%) out of the expected 384 respondents. Various factors
such as TBAs live among the community, poverty, culture, facilities being far, fear of harassment by
nurses, number of children delivered. To improve the utilization of Skilled Birth Attendants (SBA)
services, our finding suggests implementation of strategies like need to improve infrastructure and
adequate maternal health services, also improving the staffing and motivation levels for health
personnel. | en_US |
