Factors associated with home birth in Peru: An analysis of the Demographic and Health Survey, 2019 (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Home birth is a traditional practice related to perinatal complications; however, its distribution in the country and its determinants are unknown. OBJECTIVE To determine the proportion and factors associated with home birth in Peru, 2019. METHODS Cross-sectional analytical design study where the 2019 Peruvian Demographic and Family Health Survey was analyzed. The association was evaluated using Poisson Regression, supplemented with the crude prevalence ratio (cPR) and adjusted (aPR). RESULTS The records of 18,401 women were evaluated, where 5.39% (95%CI:4.83-6.03%) presented home birth. The probability of a home birth occurs increases when the pregnant woman is from the andean (aPR:1.24; 95%CI:1.02-1.48) and amazon region (aPR:1.38; 95%CI:1.16-1.64), resides in rural areas (aPR:3.34; 95%CI:2.61-4.29), presents less than 6 prenatal care (aPR:1.66; 95%CI:1.39 -1.96), it is very poor (aPR:9.62; 95%CI:5.13-18.1) or poor (aPR:2.39; 95%CI:1.26-4.52), it has not studied (aPR:2.66; 95%CI:2.02-3.50) or reached primary education (aPR:2.18: 95%CI:1.85-2.58) and has 2 children (aPR:1.64; 95%CI:1.46-1.85) or 3 or more children (aPR:2.18; 95%CI:1.67-2.87). On the other hand, having higher educational instruction (aPR:0.49; 95%CI:0.31-0.78) is associated with a lower probability of a home birth. CONCLUSIONS There is a low proportion of home births; however, this indicator increases significantly according to various geographical, sociodemographic, and obstetric factors that have been identified.