Factors associated with choice of mode of delivery among expectant mothers in Uganda

Abstract

The subject of investigation in this study was to determine factors associated with the choice of mode of delivery among expectant mothers in Uganda. The purpose of the study was to determine trends and implications of different modes of delivery among expectant mothers in Uganda. Comparative analysis between C-section and vaginal delivery was the major focus of the investigation. The study used secondary data collected by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics during the 2016 Demographic and Health Survey. Women of reproductive age formed the subject of investigation and only those between 15 and 49 years were selected. Similarly, C-section delivery became of interest since it was one of the modes of delivery among the mothers thus being identified as the dependent variable and other variables such as mother’s education level, wealth quintile, antenatal care visits, residence, birth order were used as independent variables. STATA was the analysis tool that was used for both univariate and bivariate analysis to establish the association between the dependent and independent variables. Findings indicate that the C-section mode of delivery was associated with wealth index, mother’s education, residence, ANC-visits, and birth order. The study concluded that independent variables namely wealth index, education level, residence and birth order had a significant association with C-Section mode of delivery. The study made several recommendations which include immediate government intervention in terms of infrastructure distribution especially in rural areas where well-equipped hospitals are lacking and increased sensitization of the public about the choices of mode of delivery.