Home birth and hospital birth trends in Bo, Sierra Leone
Document Type
Article
DOI
10.1111/j.1600-0412.2012.01384.x
Publication Date
2-29-2012
Abstract
As of April 2010, all maternity care at government healthcare facilities in Sierra Leone is provided at no cost to patients. In late 2010, we conducted a community health census of 18 sections of the city of Bo (selected via randomized cluster sampling from 68 total sections). Among the 3421 women with a history of pregnancy who participated in the study, older women most often reported having a history of both home and hospital deliveries, while younger women showed a preference for hospital births. The proportion of lastborn children delivered at a healthcare facility increased from 71.8% of offspring 10–14 years old to 81.1% of those one to nine years old and 87.3% of infants born after April 2010. These findings suggest that the new maternal healthcare initiative has accelerated an existing trend toward a preference for healthcare facility births, at least in some urban parts of Sierra Leone.
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2012, Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Recommended Citation
Jacobsen KH, Abdirahman HA, Ansumana R, Bockarie AS, Bangura U, Jimmy DH, Malanoski AP, Sundufu AJ, Stenger DA. Home birth and hospital birth trends in Bo, Sierra Leone. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica. 2012 June; 91(6): 750–753.
