Desire for Birth Companionship Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in Debremarkos City, Northwest Ethiopia: Magnitude and Associated Factors

Abstract

BackgroundBirth companionship is one of the components of the respectful maternity continuum of care recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Women's desire for birth companionship needs to be given attention during the antenatal care period to make them ready during labor and delivery. There is a dearth of study about the status of women's desire for birth companionship and associated factors.ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the prevalence of desire for birth companionship and associated factors among pregnant women in Debremarkos city, northwest Ethiopia.MethodsInstitution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February 1, 2021 to March 30, 2021 in Debremarkos city, northwest Ethiopia. A total of 423 participants were accessed by systematic random sampling. A face-to-face interviewer-administered questionnaire was employed. The data were entered into Epi data version 4.6 and transformed to SPSS version 25. Binary logistic regression analysis was done, and variables with a p-value ≤ 0.2 on bivariable analysis were taken for multivariable analysis. Adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was used to detect the association, and a p-value of <0.05 in the multivariable analysis was used to declare statistical significance.ResultsThe prevalence of desire for birth companionship was 57.45% (52.6–62.2%). Women who were the primary decision-maker for maternal health care services [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) =3.0; 95% CI 1.7–5.6], women with planned pregnancy (AOR = 2.0; 95% CI 1.0–3.9), women who have no bad obstetric history (AOR = 2.3; 95% CI 1.2–4.4), and women whose 1st antenatal care visit starts within the second trimester (AOR = 2.6; 1.6–4.4) were statistically significant with desire on birth companionship.ConclusionsDesire of pregnant women for birth companionship was high in this study. Improving women's decision-making power, emphasis on the type of pregnancy, obstetrical history, and early initiation of antenatal care visit were the suggested areas to increase the desire of women for birth companionship.

The three major themes of women's birthing experiences: A qualitative study in Saudi National Guard hospitals

“…While public and private section mothers had their newborns in their rooms during their hospital stays, women in the public section tended to be more dissatisfied with the new breastfeeding policy than private section. The reason for this dissatisfaction may be associated with the “No companion” policy in the public section (Assfaw et al, 2022). Added to this dissatisfaction, women in the public section had to share rooms.…”

“…Because more public patients are served in the NGH than private patients, nurses may be under time pressure when caring for a large number of women in the public sector. Moreover, women in the public section of a hospital may demand more care from nurses because of the absence of family support after admission (Assfaw et al, 2022). Because private patients can have companions stay in their private rooms, they may demand less attention from the nursing staff.…”

Women’s attitudes, prevalence, related factors, and perceived barriers of birth companionship in Saudi Arabia

“…The survey was created by adapting information from various sources of literature and research studies. 1 , 17 It was designed to gather relevant data related to labor companionship and factors associated with it.…”

“…It is also emphasized that women are prepared early for support during the prenatal period. 1 While the number of women giving birth in hospitals has increased globally between 2003 and 2013, 2 challenges remain in terms of retaining, ensuring equity, preserving dignity, and delivering quality care for mothers. 3 …”