Assessment of Utilization of Skilled Delivery Services and Associated Factors among Women at Kpone, in Kpone Katamanso Municipality, Ghana

Abstract

Introduction: “Ghana‘s current Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 319 per 100,000 live births makes achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal of 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births or less by 2030 appears to be deceptive‖ (Gudu & Addo, 2017). Even though skilled attendance during childbirth is a crucial approach to decreasing maternal mortality, the proportion of deliveries taking place within health facilities where such assistance is provided is very low in Ghana, with massive differences between urban and rural dwelling women. Objective: The main objective of the study is to examine skilled delivery utilization and associated factors among women in Kpone Township of Kpone-Katamanso District in the Greater Accra region, Ghana. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study involving a target sample size of 311 women between 15 years and 49 years was carried out at Kpone Township of Kpone- Katamanso District in Greater Accra, Ghana. The cluster sampling technique was used to select a total of 20 clusters each containing 10 houses and thus 16 participants per cluster were created within the enumerated area. Questionnaires were administered to these women and data on factors associated with skilled delivery utilization were collected. The analysis involved the use of Chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression to determine the strength of the association between skilled delivery utilization and associated factors. Results: The overall prevalence of receiving antenatal care was 81.7% among women. Among those who received antenatal care, 1 in 5 utilized unskilled delivery services at last delivery. Factors identified to influence utilization of skilled delivery services were: valid national health insurance card (AOR = 1.461, 95% CI = 1.321, 1.907, P<0.05), visited the health center for antenatal care (AOR= 0.187, 95% CI = 0.045, 0.785, P-value <0.05), women with three children (AOR = 0.130, 95% CI =0.103, 3.16, P-value<0.05), women with five children (AOR = 0.038, 95% CI =0.002, 0.620, P-value<0.05), utilization of buses or taxis as means of transportation to place of delivery (AOR=7.931, 95% CI=1.698, 9.051, P-value<0.05). Conclusion and Recommendation: The study concludes that skilled delivery services are not utilized by some women. Factors such as visited the health center for antenatal care at last delivery and women with three or five children influence the use of skilled delivery. Also, possession of valid national health insurance card and utilization of buses or taxis as means of transportation to place of delivery influence women using skilled delivery. The study, therefore, recommends that Kpone Municipal Chief Executive in collaboration with the Kpone Municipal Health Directorate should jointly organize home-based educative programs on the importance of skilled delivery services to create awareness of skilled delivery services.