Factor associated with women’s choice for place of delivery in a selected municipality of Madesh Province, Nepal

Abstract

Abstract Background Maternal mortality from pregnancy and childbirth remains a major public health problem in Nepal. Government of Nepal has been continuously making effort to reduce maternal mortality through its different programs, policies, and incentives schemes. Evidence suggests that the reasons for slow progress in MNH outcomes are partly contributed by equity gaps in access to services, and utilization of poor-quality health services. Thus, this study aims to assess the preference and the reasons for choices of delivery place among the women in Rautahat. Methods A quantitative, cross-sectional study was carried out among 278 married women of reproductive age group in Paroha Municipality who had given at least one birth within past 12 months. Face to face interview was conducted using structured questionnaire after obtaining ethical approval from IRC Pokhara university, health section of Paroha Municipality and written consent from participants. Epi-data for data entry and SPSS was used for further analysis. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis were carried out in order to obtain results. Results The study found that 89.6% women preferred health institution as ideal place of delivery. And 84.9% had institutional delivery. Similarly, factor such as women occupation (AOR = 5.901, 95% CI: 1.099–31.683) ANC visit (AOR = 8.491, 95% CI: 1.975–36.508), women preferred delivery place (AOR = 4.570, 95% CI: 0.614–5.972), husband preferred delivery place (AOR = 43.947, 95% CI: 8.573-225.279), delivery at preferred place (AOR = 8.927, 95% CI: 2.233–35.690) and use of nearest health facility (AOR = 5.473, 95% CI: 1.221–24.525) were major factor influencing place of delivery. Conclusion To ensure equitable and accessible services and improved utilization of institutional delivery it is important to identify what progress has been achieved, whether there are vulnerable and disadvantaged groups that need specific attention and the key factors affecting the utilization of institutional delivery services. Also, to promote institutional delivery and improve maternal and child health outcomes, healthcare systems should consider preferences and factors that could affect to ensure that quality of maternity care.