Study shows 25% expectant mothers give birth at home

The number of mothers giving birth at home in rural parts of Zambia stands at 25 percent despite the numerous health facilities that have been constructed in all the districts.

This means that three out of 12 deliveries in most rural areas are conducted at home by unskilled birth attendants.

The Preliminary Baseline Results of the Child Health Targets Impact Study (chTIS) has revealed that the proportion deliveries conducted at home was significantly higher in rural areas reaching 25 percent.

The study indicates that of those who gave birth at home, about half informed the researchers that either the facility was too far or there was no transportation available to take them to the health facilities.

The study however shows that deliveries conducted by trained providers who include doctors and nurses were about 70 percent of the mothers.

Despite not giving birth from the health facilities, the study shows that the proportion of women who were checked after delivery was significantly higher reaching about 96 percent.

And the study shows that the rates of under-nutrition among children 0-59 months of age are quite high in all the areas where the study was conducted.

The University of Zambia’s Institute of Economic and Social Research researcher, Richard Zulu yesterday presented this research paper result which was conducted in Luampa, Magoye and Nyimba areas.

The Child Health Target Impact Study is a five year research between World Vision and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health which has been running from 2012 and will come to a close in 2017.

The study is designed to measure the impact of World Vision’s maternal, neonatal and child health and nutrition programmes on the health of mothers, babies and children.