Cheryl A Moyer1, Philip B Adongo2, Raymond A Aborigo3, Abraham Hodgson4, Cyril M Engmann5. 1. Global REACH, Department of Medical Education, University of Michigan Medical School, 5115 Med Sci 1; 1301 Catherine St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: camoyer@umich.edu. 2. Department of Social and Behavioral Science, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana. Electronic address: pbadongo@ug.edu.gh. 3. Navrongo Health Research Centre, PO Box 114, Navrongo UE/R, Ghana; Department of Public Health, School of Medical and Health Sciences, MONASH University, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 46150 Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehasan, Malaysia. Electronic address: raborigo@navrongo.mimcom.org. 4. Navrongo Health Research Centre, PO Box 114, Navrongo UE/R, Ghana. Electronic address: abraham.hodgson@ghsmail.org. 5. Departments of Pediatrics and Maternal and Child Health, Schools of Medicine and Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB# 7596, 4th Floor, UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7596, USA. Electronic address: Cyril_engmann@med.unc.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: to explore community and health-care provider attitudes towards maltreatment during delivery in rural northern Ghana, and compare findings against The White Ribbon Alliance's seven fundamental rights of childbearing women. DESIGN: a cross-sectional qualitative study using in-depth interviews and focus groups. SETTING: the Kassena-Nankana District of rural northern Ghana between July and October 2010. PARTICIPANTS: 128 community members, including mothers with newborn infants, grandmothers, household heads, compound heads, traditional healers, traditional birth attendants, and community leaders, as well as 13 formally trained health-care providers. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: 7 focus groups and 43 individual interviews were conducted with community members, and 13 individual interviews were conducted with health-care providers. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and entered into NVivo 9.0 for analysis. Despite the majority of respondents reporting positive experiences, unprompted, maltreatment was brought up in 6 of 7 community focus groups, 14 of 43 community interviews, and 8 of 13 interviews with health-care providers. Respondents reported physical abuse, verbal abuse, neglect, and discrimination. One additional category of maltreatment identified was denial of traditional practices. KEY CONCLUSIONS: maltreatment was spontaneously described by all types of interview respondents in this community, suggesting that the problem is not uncommon and may dissuade some women from seeking facility delivery. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: provider outreach in rural northern Ghana is necessary to address and correct the problem, ensuring that all women who arrive at a facility receive timely, professional, non-judgmental, high-quality delivery care.
OBJECTIVE: to explore community and health-care provider attitudes towards maltreatment during delivery in rural northern Ghana, and compare findings against The White Ribbon Alliance's seven fundamental rights of childbearing women. DESIGN: a cross-sectional qualitative study using in-depth interviews and focus groups. SETTING: the Kassena-Nankana District of rural northern Ghana between July and October 2010. PARTICIPANTS: 128 community members, including mothers with newborn infants, grandmothers, household heads, compound heads, traditional healers, traditional birth attendants, and community leaders, as well as 13 formally trained health-care providers. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: 7 focus groups and 43 individual interviews were conducted with community members, and 13 individual interviews were conducted with health-care providers. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and entered into NVivo 9.0 for analysis. Despite the majority of respondents reporting positive experiences, unprompted, maltreatment was brought up in 6 of 7 community focus groups, 14 of 43 community interviews, and 8 of 13 interviews with health-care providers. Respondents reported physical abuse, verbal abuse, neglect, and discrimination. One additional category of maltreatment identified was denial of traditional practices. KEY CONCLUSIONS: maltreatment was spontaneously described by all types of interview respondents in this community, suggesting that the problem is not uncommon and may dissuade some women from seeking facility delivery. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: provider outreach in rural northern Ghana is necessary to address and correct the problem, ensuring that all women who arrive at a facility receive timely, professional, non-judgmental, high-quality delivery care.
Authors: Meghan A Bohren; Olufemi T Oladapo; Özge Tunçalp; Melanie Wendland; Joshua P Vogel; Mari Tikkanen; Bukola Fawole; Kidza Mugerwa; João Paulo Souza; Rajiv Bahl; A Metin Gülmezoglu Journal: Reprod Health Date: 2015-05-26 Impact factor: 3.223
Authors: Meghan A Bohren; Joshua P Vogel; Erin C Hunter; Olha Lutsiv; Suprita K Makh; João Paulo Souza; Carolina Aguiar; Fernando Saraiva Coneglian; Alex Luíz Araújo Diniz; Özge Tunçalp; Dena Javadi; Olufemi T Oladapo; Rajat Khosla; Michelle J Hindin; A Metin Gülmezoglu Journal: PLoS Med Date: 2015-06-30 Impact factor: 11.069