Factors Influencing Institutional Delivery: An Observational Study

Institutional delivery refers to the delivery that has taken place in a well-equipped medical centre having skilled delivery assistance. This study was designed to identify the factors that influence delivery in institution. This observational study was conducted at the Department of Maternal and Child Health, National Institute of Preventive and Social Medicine (NIPSOM), Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of 159 case samples were included following selection criteria. Data regarding socio-demographic characteristics, detailed antenatal history and different factors of institutional delivery were collected accordingly. All data were collected by face to face interview. The mean±SD age of the study subjects was 28.4±7.2 years and ranged was 18-38 years. It was observed that, majority (78.7%) of the respondents was at 20-30 years age range and maximum (56.6%) was house wife. Most (37.7%) of them had secondary level education. Their husband (40.3%) and mother in low (40.3%) were equally predominant as decision maker of the family. Majority (61.6%) of the respondents was came from lower economic class and most (63.5%) of them was living in a nuclear family. Different socio-economic factors like- mother's education, family income, occupation, family types, religious believe, place of residence, access to health information, and several antenatal complications were found to be influential for institutional delivery. This study concluded that antenatal complications, different socio-economic factors and access to health information influencing the utilization of maternal health services and institutional delivery.