Perception, attitude and practices of home birth among mothers of under-five children in a migrant community of Southwest, Nigeria

Abstract

Homebirth practice and its associated risks have not been adequately explored in Nigeria. This study therefore, investigated perception, attitude and homebirth practices of mothers of under-five children in a Nigerian migrant community. A total of 399 mothers were sampled and data was collected using mixed methods. The average age of the respondents was 32.1+8.8 years, 50% of them had secondary education, 81.5% were housewives and 80% perceived homebirth as safe. A total of 61.9% of the respondents registered for antenatal care. In this study, home delivery practices refer to the involvement skilled attendant (17.2%), monitoring of deliveries (10.7%), cutting umbilical cord with sterilized material (95.7%), birth timing (36.7%) and provision for referral (5.3%). Factors influencing preference for homebirth included economic status, time the labor started, health workers' attitude, cultural belief and distance to health facility. The study found that homebirth among the target population lacked the involvement of skilled birth attendants. Thus, community engagement and awareness on the importance of having a skilled attendant during home birth is highly recommended.