Predictors of midwives’ intention to provide planned home birth services to low-risk women: A theory of planned behaviour approach

Abstract

Objective: Planned home birth may increase women's access to skilled midwives in all settings. Using theory to understand and predict midwives’ intention regarding planned home birth services is rare. Therefore, using the theory of planned behaviour, we determined the factors associated with midwives’ intention to provide planned home birth services to low-risk women. Design: This cross-sectional study adopted a quantitative approach and a survey. Stratified random sampling was used to recruit 226 midwives in Sokoto, Nigeria. Data—including descriptive statistic and multiple linear regression analyses—were analysed using SPSS 23 and significant was set at 0.05. Setting: Ten public health facilities in Sokoto, northwestern Nigeria. Participants: Among all 460 midwives (women aged 20–60 years), working in the maternity wards of health facilities in Sokoto, a sample of 226 midwives was calculated using a power of 0.80 and a 95% confidence interval. Findings: The multiple linear regression analyses confirmed that the major factors associated with midwives’ intention to provide planned home birth services were midwives’ attitude towards planned home birth (p