Birth preparedness and related factors among women of reproductive age in Mpwapwa district

Purpose: Birth preparedness is a comer stone in addressing obstetric service delays which may lead to maternal deaths. The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which birth preparedness is practiced by women during their pregnancy period, and how is related to ANC attendance, knowledge on obstetric danger sign and socio¬demographic characteristics. Methods: A community - based, cross sectional study was carried out in Mpwapwa district in June 2006. Six hundred women aged 15 to 46 years who had been pregnant in the past 2 years were interviewed on antenatal care (ANC) attendance information, knowledge on danger signs, counselling on birth preparedness and the actual birth preparedness experiences. The data analysis was performed using Epi info version 6 software and findings were summarized in frequency and cross tabulation, p values were used to determine if association between dependent and independent variables are significant. Results: Almost all respondents (98%) attended ANC at least once and 63% attended at least 4 times. Only 27.2% of all respondents received adequate counselling on birth preparedness in ANC and a similar proportion (27.0%) had knowledge on obstetric danger signs. More than a half (59.3%) of all respondents was actually prepared for the birth. Birth preparedness status had a significant relationship with a mother being married (p<O.OOOl), knowledgeable about obstetric danger signs (p<O.OOOl), counseled on birth preparedness (p<O.OOOl) and ANC attendance at least four times (p<O.OOOl).Conclusion: Birth preparedness among women was very low to have any impact in addressing obstetric delays. Majority of women were not knowledgeable on obstetric danger signs and very few women were counselled on birth preparedness at the ANC. More strategies to increase counselling to pregnant women on obstetric danger signs are necessary to enable women to implement individual birth preparedness and ultimately to reduce maternal and perinatal mortality.