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)?
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Date
2015-11-01
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Abstract
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.