期刊名称:The Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition
印刷版ISSN:1606-0997
电子版ISSN:2072-1315
出版年度:2006
卷号:24
期号:4
页码:438-445
语种:English
出版社:International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh
摘要:Women in both Bangladesh and Uganda face a number of barriers to delivery in professional health facilities, including costs, transportation problems, and sociocultural norms to deliver at home. Some women in both the countries manage to overcome these barriers. This paper reports on a comparative qualitative study investigating how some women and their families were able to use professional delivery services. The study provides insights into the decision-making processes and overcoming access barriers. Husbands were found to be particularly important in Uganda, while, in Bangladesh, a number of individuals could influence care-seeking, including unqualified local healers or traditional birth attendants. In both the settings, cost and transport barriers were often overcome through social networks. Social prohibitions on birth in the health facility did not feature strongly in women's accounts, with several Ugandan women explaining that friends or peers also used facilities, while, in Bangladesh, perceived complications apparently justified the use of professional medical care. Investigating the ways in which some women can overcome common barriers can help inform policy and planning to increase the use of health facilities for child delivery. Key words: Maternal health, Delivery, Health services, Healthcare, Health facilities, Comparative studies, Uganda, Bangladesh