Abstract:
Objective: The present study aimed to To assess the trend and reasons of women towards the choice for place of delivery based on (MICS) 2017-18, Punjab, Pakistan. Methods: This observational study was conducted at 36 districts of Punjab, Pakistan from 2017-18. A total of 53,840 households were drawn as the sample size from 2,692 sample clusters, out of which 1,893 were rural clusters and 799 were urban clusters. From 53,840 households, 52,765 households occupied and 51,660 were successfully interviewed. Further, 79,510 women were eligible for interview age group 15-49 years, 74,010 women were interview successfully. There were 26,980 women who had ever or currently married, and 15,656 women gave birth in the last two years. The outcome variable was place of delivery and exposure variables were socio-demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Chi-square test was applied to identify the association by using SPSS. Pvalue= 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: There were (43.5%) private sector deliveries, (29.7%) public sector hospitals, and (26.4%) home deliveries. Urban women more likely to choose public sector hospitals for delivery OR=1.02 (0.94-1.09) 95% CI, p<0.010. The women of South and Central Punjab are more likely to choose private sector hospitals for delivery, OR=1/0.535=1.87 (0.478- 0.600)95% CI, p<0.010. Conclusion: Overall women prefer delivery process in private sector particularly urban women. It may be the facilities present in private sector hospitals in urban areas or healthcare facilities are not accessible especially in rural areas. In modern era, some women still prefer home delivery.
Keywords:
women
,
Rural
,
urban
,
Attitudes
,
reasons
,
Choice
,
Place of Delivery