Abstract:
The broad objective of this study was to identify factors influencing the parents' choice
of place for childbirth in Mpwapwa district . Structured interview was used for data
collection. A total of 300 parents were involved in the study. The main findings of this
study show that one third of the parents who participated in the study gave their last
childbirth at health facilities as compared to non-health facility deliveries (71 %).
The study also shows that the main factors influencing the parents' choice of place for
childbirth include distance and education. Age, marital status, religion and the number of
children (Parity) did not show statistical significancy to influence the choice of place for
childbirth.
The main recommendations of this study include
Improve delivery health education of the community. That is providing effective
communication on delivery during antenatal visits. This in turn will influence the
utilization of delivery at the health facilities
Establish maternity waiting home for women who stay far away from the health facility
and they are at risk.
Mobilize community-based transport for women with obstetric emergency for health
facility delivery.
Vlll
Provide health facilities within walking range of women in labour.
hnprove the level of knowledge of TBA through periodic training to cope with the
current advances in childbirth at village level.
hnprove women's decision-making power with regard to health facility delivery.
Research on place of delivery. Periodic research on place of delivery to find out why
few women deliver at health facility, should be done in order to improve the delivery at
the heal
