COMMUNITY BASED SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS Maternal and ...

4.3. QUALITATIVE RESULTS
In this section the results of the sub-samples of women/households which were identified to
examine particular cases of interest are presented. The reviews of the particular cases of
interest are discussed separately.
SECTION 1:
NO ANC ATTENDANCE AND HOME BIRTH REVIEW
Methods
Twenty three women were interviewed using a qualitative case-study design. Six of these
women received no ANC in their last pregnancy, ten had home births with ANC and seven had
home births with no ANC. Trained fieldworkers conducted the interviews which occurred in the
homes of the participants.
The data collection tool included selected demographics which were collected in the Good Start
Study. Participants also responded to a number of in-depth questions about antenatal and
maternity services. These included women’s experiences of ANC in the last pregnancy; the
barriers experienced in accessing ANC services; a health seeking behaviour; danger or
warning signs of a problem during pregnancy or birth; women’s experiences of labour and the
barriers to accessing maternity services during labour.
The interviews were conducted in the preferred language of the informant and answers
recorded on the interview schedule. Interview responses were reviewed by two investigators
and grouped into health systems and community/individual barriers to accessing either
antenatal or maternity services.
Results
Description of Study Participants
No ANC Attendance: The women’s ages ranged from 18 to 42 with a median of 24. The
number of pregnancies of the 12 women varied from one to eight. The mean number of
pregnancies was 2.67, the median two and the mode one.
Home Births: The women’s ages ranged from 19 to 42 with a median of 28 years. The
number of pregnancies of the 18 women varied from one to eight. The mean number of
pregnancies was three and both the mode and the median was two.
Barriers to Accessing ANC and Maternity Services
A number of factors contributed to women at all three sites not attending ANC and delivering at
home. Although these factors overlap, considerably differences exist and these will be
considered separately. For clarity, the factors contributing to no ANC attendance and
delivering at home will be considered under two main themes, health systems issues and
community or individual issues. However, many of the women interviewed described more
than one barrier which prevented them from accessing either antenatal or maternity services.
Community Based Situation Analysis: Maternal & Neonatal Follow-up Care 18