Experiences of antenatal mothers staying in a maternity waiting home at Malamulo Mission Hospital in Thyolo
In many areas of the world, and especially in Sub – Sahara Africa, utilization of maternal services is low. In low-resource settings, cost, distance, and the time needed to access care are major barriers for effective uptake of antenatal and particularly intrapartum services. A number of innovative...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Online Access: | http://nkhokwe.kuhes.ac.mw:8080/handle/20.500.12845/256 |
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Add Tag | Summary: | In many areas of the world, and especially in Sub – Sahara Africa, utilization of maternal services is low. In low-resource settings, cost, distance, and the time needed to access care are major barriers for effective uptake of antenatal and particularly intrapartum services. A number of innovative strategies to surmount cost, distance, and time barriers to accessing care were identified and evaluated; one of these strategies is the maternity waiting homes (MWHs), but few studies have reported or evaluated the impact of the wide scale implementation of the strategy. This study was conducted to explore antenatal mothers’ experiences of staying in MWHs in Thyolo District. A qualitative, phenomenological study was conducted utilizing on audio-taped, semi-structured in-depth interviews (IDIs). A purposive sample selection of 15 antenatal mothers staying in MWHs was recruited. The lived experiences of these 15 mothers were revealed through IDIs. The
findings on antenatal mothers’ experiences of staying in MWHs revealed several things including motivating factors, benefits, and challenges of staying in MWHs. Some of the motivating factors were proximity to the hospital, birth by skilled attendance, and availability of specialized care. The benefit of staying in MWHs was that the antenatal mothers had adequate time to rest, a thing which was rare at home. They enjoyed peace of mind because they did not have to worry about how they would get to the hospital if labour started, and they made new friends while in MWHs. Challenges that the antenatal mothers reported during their stay in MWHs were lack of privacy, poor sanitation, pests, congestion, poor attitude of midwives, and adverse cultural practices. Antenatal mothers who reside long distances from the hospital need to be encouraged to wait in MWHs for two to three weeks before the expected time of delivery where they can receive adequate medical care should complications arise. Health workers need education and training on interpersonal skills, ethics, and attitudes to address the issue of poor attitude of midwives. This could portray a better midwifery image to the community. However, further studies should be conducted on client – provider interaction to address the poor attitude of midwives. Additionally, the hospital management needs to improve the infrastructure in MWHs, and spray the buildings regularly with pesticides to eliminate mosquitoes, ants, and fleas. The findings indicate the need to address the challenges which will increase
the utilization of MWHs. When the challenges are addressed, the number of antenatal
mothers utilizing MWHs will increase leading to improved pregnancy outcome. |
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