Understanding birthing preferences of women in Benin City, Nigeria: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore women’s birthing preferences and the motivational and contextual factors that influence their preferences in Benin City, Nigeria, so as to better understand the low rates of healthcare facility usage during childbirth. SETTING: Two primary care centres, a community health centre and a church within Benin City, Nigeria. PARTICIPANTS: We conducted one-on-one in-depth interviews with 23 women, and six focus groups (FGDs) with 37 husbands of women who delivered, skilled birth attendants (SBAs), and traditional birth attendants (TBAs) in a semi-rural region of Benin City, Nigeria. RESULTS: Three themes emerged in the data: (1) women reported frequently experiencing maltreatment from SBAs in clinic settings and hearing stories of maltreatment dissuaded women from giving birth in clinics, (2) women reported that the decision of where to deliver is impacted by how they sort through a range of social, economic, cultural and environmental factors; (3) women and SBAs offered systemic and individual level solutions for increasing usage of healthcare facilities delivery, which included decreasing costs, increasing the ratio of SBAs to patients and SBAs adopting some practices of TBAs, such as providing psychosocial support to women during the perinatal period. CONCLUSION: Women in Benin City, Nigeria indicated that they want a birthing experience that is emotionally supportive, results in a healthy baby and is within their cultural scope. Adopting a woman-centred care approach may encourage more women to transition from prenatal care to childbirth with SBAs. Efforts should be placed on training SBAs as well as investigating how non-harmful cultural practices can be integrated into local healthcare systems.