Abstract:
ABSTRACT
The study is a community-based study to determine the factors contributing to
the delayed arrival of women with pregnancy-related complication to the health
facilities in the Assin District of Ghana.
The women with pregnancy-related complications in the district often arrive
at the health facilities in the district so late, that this makes the outcome of the
management poor with resultant high maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality.
The study aimed at finding the factors which significantly contribute to the
delayed arrival and to make recommendation on how to improve the situation.
The study is descriptive which used both structured questionnaire and focus
group discussion to collect relevant data from five communities. The data were
analysed using a computer software.
The major findings of the study were:
(i) The community and individuals had good knowledge on
pregnancy and pregnancy-related complication.
(ii) Most individuals and families prefer to visit hospital in event of
a pregnancy complications.
(iii) The majority of the women in the community lack access to
funds in event of pregnancy and pregnancy-related complication
and this contributes significantly to the delayed arrival.
(iv) Problem of long distance between health facilities and the
women's place of residence, long travel time due to poor roads,
lack of transport and high cost of transport also contributes to
the delayed arrival.
Based on the findings of the study recommendation has been made to help
improve the situation.
