Exploring the reasons why women prefer to give birth at home in rural northern Ghana: A qualitative study

Abstract Background Skilled birth care during childbirth is reported in literature as one critical strategy for reducing maternal morbidity and mortality. Despite the importance of birth care provided by skilled birth attendants, women in rural areas of northern Ghana still give birth utilising the birth services provided by Traditional Birth Attendants. Methods A qualitative approach was adopted to explore the reasons for women preference to deliver at home in rural areas of northern Ghana. Individual interviews were used to obtain a thick description of factors and experiences of women associated with home births in rural areas in Ghana. The research population consisted of 10 women who utilised birth care services provided by Traditional Birth Attendants in a rural of northern Ghana. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed to identify themes. Results Findings showed that women gave birth at home in rural northern Ghana due to: Perceived poor quality of care and conduct of Skilled Birth Attendants; women received better care from Traditional Birth Attendants; due to financial constraints and women lacked access to healthcare facilities in the rural areas. Conclusion The study highlighted some barriers experienced by participants to the utilisation of birth care services provided by skilled birth attendants in rural northern Ghana. There is a need for skilled birth attendants to collaborate with Traditional Birth Attendants in rural and deprived communities to provide quality and culturally acceptable care in the rural communities to encourage women to patronise the services provided by skilled birth attendants.