title: Promoting access: the use of maternity waiting homes to achieve safe motherhood.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to examine the structural and sociocultural factors influencing maternity waiting home (MWH) use through the lens of women, families, and communities in one rural county in postconflict Liberia.
  
  
  METHODS
  an exploratory, qualitative descriptive design using focus groups and in-depth, individual interviews was employed. Content analysis of data was performed using Penchansky and Thomas's (1981) five A's of access as a guiding framework.
  
  
  METHODS
  rural communities in north-central Liberia.
  
  
  METHODS
  a convenience sampling was used to recruit participants. Eight focus groups were held with 75 participants from congruent groups of (1) MWH users, (2) MWH non-users, (3) family members of MWH users, and (4) family members of MWH non-users. Eleven individual interviews were conducted with clinic staff or community leaders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  the availability of MWHs decreased the barrier of distance for women to access skilled care around the time of childbirth. Food insecurity while staying at a MWH was identified as a potential barrier by participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  examining access as a general concept within the specific dimensions of availability, accessibility, accommodation, affordability, and acceptability provides a way to describe the structural and sociocultural factors that influence access to a MWH and skilled attendance for birth.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MWHs can address the barrier of distance in accessing skilled care for childbirth in a rural setting with long distances to a facility.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction, University of Michigan, School of Nursing, 400 N. Ingalls, Room 3352, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: jrlori@umich.edu.
authors.forename: Jody R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Lori
authors.forename: Anna C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Wadsworth
authors.forename: Michelle L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Munro
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rominski
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007988:Liberia; D008427:Maternal Health Services / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D020380:Needs Assessment; D057240:Patient Preference; D011247:Pregnancy; D037841:Pregnant People / Q000523:psychology*; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012424:Rural Population
keywords: Access; Maternity waiting homes; Midwifery; Safe motherhood