Factors Associated With Maltreatment Of Women During Pregnancy And Childbirth At The Tema General Hospital.
Date
2018-10
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Ghana
Abstract
Background: Studies have shown that large numbers of women around the world experience maltreatment during pregnancy and childbirth. To date, however, there has been few quantitative estimates of the prevalence of maltreatment of women during facility-based childbirth in Ghana. The objective of this study was to examine maltreatment of women by healthcare providers in Tema General Hospital during childbirth.
Methods: The study was a cross-sectional in design using quantitative tools to examine maltreatment of women during pregnancy and childbirth among 253 randomly selected women aged 15-49 years, who had given birth in the Tema Metropolis in the last six months prior to this study. Data collected was entered into excel and exported to Stata 15 version software for analysis. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used to examine factors associated with maltreatment of women during pregnancy and childbirth. Confidence level of 95% and a P<0.05 were considered as statistically significant.
Results: Eighty three percent (83%) of women reported to have been maltreated during their interaction with healthcare providers, during pregnancy and childbirth. Manifestation of maltreatments includes detention (43.1%), non-confidential care (39.5%), abandonment (30.8%), verbal abuse (25.3%), discrimination (21.3%), physical abuse (14.2%), and non-consented care (13.3%). Mothers who earned above GHȻ 1000.00 had 85% reduced odds of being maltreated as compared to mothers who do not earn salary (OR: 0.15; 95% CI=0.031-0.702). Moreover, mothers whose husbands earned between GHȻ 1000.00-1500.00 also had 81% reduced odds of being maltreated as compared to mothers whose husbands‘ earned between GHȻ 100.00-500.0 (OR: 0.19; 95% CI=0.069-0.539). Also, women who had their privacy had 91% reduced odds of
suffering maltreatment compared to women who didn‘t have their privacy (OR: 0.09; 95% CI=0.0026-0.291).
Conclusion: The study has revealed that the prevalence of maltreatment of women during pregnancy and childbirth in Tema General Hospital is very high (83%). Given that women who experience maltreatments from healthcare providers are less likely to go to the health facility again during pregnancy and childbirth. It is important that interventions are put in place to train service providers in patient-centred care and interpersonal communication and relationships so as to minimise maltreatment of women during pregnancy and childbirth.
Description
Thesis (MPh)
Keywords
Maltreatment of women, pregnancy and childbirth, Respectful maternal care