In West Africa, Cameroon has one of the highest maternal mortality rates, with 596 deaths / 100,000 live births. Within sub-Saharan Africa, the West African region has the highest maternal mortality in Africa, accounting for approximately 20% of global maternal deaths. Within low and middle-income countries, the highest maternal mortality rates are found in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, approximately 303,000 women died from pregnancy-related causes globally, with 99% of all maternal deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries.
The government of Cameroon should strengthen the health system and implement activities to engage communities in improving care seeking for antenatal care and thereby improving maternal health status of women. Health facility barriers as well as socio-cultural beliefs have significant influences on the timing of antenatal care initiation. Pregnant women lack information on the purpose of early antenatal care. The absence of effective community health programmes, perceived lack of support from parents and spouses, fear of bewitchment and stigma due to cultural beliefs about the early initiation of antenatal care were also identified as variables influencing late initiation. The cost of services and distance to health facilities that required travel via uncomfortable transport on poor road networks were identified as perceived barriers.
Participants perceived the booking system to be user-unfriendly and complained of overcrowded conditions, long waiting times and some rude service providers. Furthermore, previous positive pregnancy outcomes for which women did not access care made them less motivated to initiate antenatal care early. Pregnant women placed a low value on early antenatal care because they perceived pregnancy to be a normal health condition or to not be a serious issue that required seeking health care. Data were audio-recorded and analyzed using thematic coding analysis. The purpose of the study was explained to participants, and they signed a consent form if they were willing to participate in the research. Participation in the study was voluntary. Key informants were midwives working at the Antenatal Care Unit. Pregnant women who initiated antenatal care after the first trimester were recruited during antenatal care clinics and were interviewed in a room at the Antenatal Care Unit. The study applied purposive sampling to recruit eighteen pregnant women and three key informants for data collection through individual interviews. The aim of the study was to understand the reasons for the late initiation of antenatal care by pregnant women in Nkwen Baptist Health Centre, Bamenda, Cameroon. Antenatal care serves as a key entry point for a pregnant woman to receive a broad range of services and should be initiated at the onset of pregnancy.
0 kommentar(er)
