Factors associated with health facility delivery among women of reproductive age (15-49) in Uganda

Abstract

This study on factors that influence mother’s choice of place of delivery establish reasons why mothers decide to deliver in the different places. The main objective of the study was to examine factors influencing health facility delivery among women in the reproductive age 15-49 in Uganda. Using data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS), of the 18,506 women aged 15-49, 10,152 had a live birth within the 5 years preceding the survey. Frequency distributions were used to describe the background characteristics of the women. Chi-square (χ2) tests were used to investigate the associations between health facility delivery and independent variables. More than half (74%) of the women delivered from health facility compared to 26% who did not deliver in health facility. Health facility delivery was significantly associated with the mother’s wealth index, religion, education level, marital status, exposure to mass media and place of residence. The percentage of women delivering in hospital increased with increase in education level and wealth index. So to increase the number of women who deliver in health facility, emphasis should be put on women education, women financial empowering programs and improved access to health facilities.