Women's perceived barriers to giving birth in health facilities in rural Kenya: A qualitative evidence synthesis.

BACKGROUND

In Kenya, uptake of skilled care during birth remains lower in rural areas when compared to urban areas, despite efforts by the government to encourage facility-based births by abolishing maternity fees in public health facilities.

OBJECTIVE

To synthesise published and unpublished qualitative research that explores women's perceived barriers to facility-based birth in rural Kenya.

DESIGN

Qualitative evidence synthesis DATA SOURCES: Multiple electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, POPLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science and ProQuest), grey literature searches, citation chaining and checking of reference lists.

REVIEW

METHODS

Studies were screened by title, abstract and full text, after which a standardised qualitative checklist was used to assess study quality. Synthesis of extracted data followed the 'best-fit' framework method, enhanced with a pathway-based model for the improvement of maternal and newborn care.

RESULTS

Sixteen eligible studies were identified. Key themes were: (i) knowledge, attitudes and practices, including past experiences of health facilities and community beliefs about facility services; (ii) insufficient demand for professional care caused by the perceived advantages of seeking alternative care during birth and the disadvantages of facility-based births; (iii) limited access to services, especially in rural areas, because of poor infrastructure; (iv) misconceptions regarding labour characteristics and, (v) poor awareness of labour outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

Important factors can be characterised as 'push' factors (those pushing women away from facilities) and 'pull' factors (those related to the relative advantage of facility-based births). However, key to an individual woman's decision are factors relating to knowledge, attitudes and practices and awareness of labour outcomes. While a critical tension exists between government policy and consumer choice, the prevalence of inadequate awareness and the dominance of past experiences and community beliefs offer significant obstacles to a woman in making an informed choice about her preferred place of giving birth.