title: Childbirth in a rural highlands community in Papua New Guinea: a descriptive study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to explore men's and women's experiences, beliefs and practices surrounding childbirth in a rural highlands community in Papua New Guinea.
  
  
  METHODS
  a qualitative study comprising focus group discussions, key informant and in depth interviews.
  
  
  METHODS
  the study was undertaken in a rural community in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.
  
  
  METHODS
  51 women and 26 men participated in 11 focus group discussions. Key informant and in depth interviews were undertaken with 21 women and five men.
  
  
  RESULTS
  both women and men recognised the importance of health facility births, linking village births with maternal and newborn deaths. Despite this, many women chose to give birth in the community in circumstances influenced by cultural and customary beliefs and practices. Women giving birth in the community frequently gave birth in an isolated location. Traditional beliefs surrounding reasons for difficult births, including spiritual beliefs were reported along with the use of traditional methods used to help prolonged and difficult births.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  while the importance of health facility births is recognised in this rural community many women continue to give birth in the village. Identifying and understanding local customs, beliefs and practices, particularly those that may be harmful to women and their newborn infants, is critical to the development of locally-appropriate community-based strategies for improving maternal and infant health in rural communities in PNG and other resource-limited, high burden settings.
authors.affiliation: Sexual & Reproductive Health Unit, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Alotau Branch, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Electronic address: lmvallely@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Vallely
authors.affiliation: Sexual & Reproductive Health Unit, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea.
authors.forename: Primrose
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Homiehombo
authors.affiliation: Sexual & Reproductive Health Unit, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea; International HIV Research Group, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kelly-Hanku
authors.affiliation: Sexual & Reproductive Health Unit, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea; Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vallely
authors.affiliation: Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Caroline S E
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Homer
authors.affiliation: School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Whittaker
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006700:Home Childbirth / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008880:Midwifery / Q000379:methods*; D010219:Papua New Guinea; D036801:Parturition / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012424:Rural Population
keywords: Birth huts; Cultural beliefs; Cultural practices; Isolation; Papua New Guinea; Village birth