Browsing by Author "Mwase, Atisiya Clara"

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    Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) are not Allowed to Assist Childbirth but why are Women in Mzimba District Still Giving Birth with the Assistance of (TBAs)?
    (2015-11-01) Mwase, Atisiya Clara
    Policy change for Traditional Birth Attendants stipulates that TBAs should not conduct deliveries because they contribute to high maternal mortality. TBAs are supposed to encourage women to deliver at a health facility with the assistance of skilled birth attendants. The study aimed at investigating the reasons women in Mzimba District specifically at catchment areas of Mkoma and Manyamula Health Centres and Mzimba District Hospital still prefer giving birth with the assistance of TBAs. A descriptive and exploratory qualitative method was used in this study to explore reasons women were still giving births at TBAs. Purposive sampling was used to select 3 health facilities within Mzimba District where many women prefer to deliver with the assistance of TBAs. Purposive sampling was also used to select both women and male participants for the study. Nineteen women of childbearing age of between 18-49 years; and men participated in the study. Data was collected through in-depth face to face interviews and focus group discussions. Data was analyzed manually using thematic content analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to analyse the demographic data using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 16.0. The demographic data showed that the majority of the participants were 18-24 years old; all were Christians and married; had primary level of education and their main source of income was peasant farming; and on average the participants had given birth to 3 children. Three main themes emerged from the qualitative data: awareness on policy change for TBAs, women’s lack of decision making power, and barriers to deliver with skilled attendants. Based on the results, it is vii recommended that a multi-sectoral collaborative approach should be used to address the challenges.