Authors:

Abstract

Introduction In Sri Lanka, more than 95% of women deliver in hospital. There is regional variation in the rate of home deliveries, and in some areas a significant number of mothers deliver at home.

Objective The objective of the present study was to identify the factors associated with home deliveries in Thampalakamam, Trincomalee.

Methodology Ours was a community based, exploratory type of case control study. Cases were home deliveries during the period from Jan 1, 2000 to Dec 31, 2002 in Thampalakamam Divisonal Director of Health Services (DDHS) area. Controls were institutional deliveries among women residing in Thampalakamam DDHS area during the same period. A total of 139 cases and 278 controls were identified for this study. Data was collected at the household level using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.

Results The following factors were found to have strong association with home deliveries: being a Muslim (OR = 33.0, 95% CI 16.8-64.8), low (

Conclusions Poor education of women and deficiencies in the delivery of antenatal care were found to be important risk factors for home deliveries.  

Key words: Deficiencies in delivery of antenatal care, poor education of women

doi: 10.4038/cmj.v51i2.1354

Ceylon Medical Journal Vol.51(2) 2006 59-62

Keywords: Deficiencies in delivery of antenatal care, poor education of women