A Retrospective Study on the Relationship between Antenatal Care and Supervised Delivery in Ga District, Greater Accra, Ghana

Abstract

In a retrospective study in a small community in Ga District, Southern part of Ghana it was discovered, that majority of women (94.1%) received antenatal care and that eighty three per cent of them delivered under the supervision of recognized-trained medical personnel. Supervised deliveries took place in Government health facilities as well as in the private sector. The majority of the women (86%) had more than four antenatal care visits. Cost, cultural factors or age seem not to have had any significant influence on whether or not women deliver under supervision. Women with education more than seven years are more likely to deliver under supervision than women who are educated less than seven years. The study confirmed a strong relation between antenatal care and delivery under supervision. About half of the women chose to deliver in the private sector. Individual midwifery care seems to encourage women to deliver in the private sector. Better collaboration between private and Government sector might strengthen the antenatal care and delivery service in Ga District.