Factors associated with home deliveries in Thampalakamam, Trincomalee.
BACKGROUND
In Sri Lanka, more than 95% of women deliver in hospital. There is regional variation in the rate of home deliveries, and in some areas a significant number of mothers deliver at home.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of the present study was to identify the factors associated with home deliveries in Thampalakamam, Trincomalee.


METHODS
Ours was a community based, exploratory type of case control study. Cases were home deliveries during the period from Jan 1, 2000 to Dec 31, 2002 in Thampalakamam Divisonal Director of Health Services (DDHS) area. Controls were institutional deliveries among women residing in Thampalakamam DDHS area during the same period. A total of 139 cases and 278 controls were identified for this study. Data was collected at the household level using an interviewer-administered questionnaire.


RESULTS
The following factors were found to have strong association with home deliveries: being a Muslim (OR = 33.0, 95% CI 16.8-64.8), low (< grade 5) maternal education (OR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.8-6.6), parity more than 3 (OR = 3.2, 95% CI 1.5-6.6) not being visited by a public health midwife (OR = 2.4, 95% CI 0.8-6.9), not being seen by a medical officer during the antenatal period (OR = 7.0, 95% CI 0.6-83.3). Lack of transport (35.5%) was mentioned as main reason for home deliveries by the women. Of the home deliveries 95% were assisted by a traditional birth attendant.


CONCLUSIONS
Poor education of women and deficiencies in the delivery of antenatal care were found to be important risk factors for home deliveries.
Lukumar
P
P
Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. lukumar@hotmail.com
Pathmeswaran
A
A
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006700:Home Childbirth / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013188:Sri Lanka; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires