Factors influencing women’s preference for health facility deliveries in Jharkhand state, India: a cross sectional analysis

BACKGROUND: Expanding institutional deliveries is a policy priority to achieve MDG5. India adopted a policy to encourage facility births through a conditional cash incentive scheme, yet 28 % of deliveries still occur at home. In this context, it is important to understand the care experience of women who have delivered at home, and also at health facilities, analyzing any differences, so that services can be improved to promote facility births. This study aims to understand women’s experience of delivery care during home and facility births, and the factors that influence women’s decisions regarding their next place of delivery. METHOD: A community-based cross-sectional survey was undertaken in a district of Jharkhand state in India. Interviews with 500 recently delivered women (210 delivered at facility and 290 delivered at home) included socio-demographic characteristics, experience of their recent delivery, and preference of future delivery site. Data analysis included frequencies, binary and multiple logistic regressions. RESULTS: There is no major difference in the experience of care between home and facility births, the only difference in care being with regard to pain relief through massage, injection and low cost of delivery for those having home births. 75 % women wanted to deliver their next child at a facility, main reasons being availability of medicine (29.4 %) and perceived health benefits for mother and baby (15 %). Women with higher education (AOR = 1.67, 95 % CI = 1.04–3.07), women who were above 25 years (AOR = 2.14, 95 % CI = 1.26–3.64), who currently delivered at facility (AOR = 5.19, 95 % CI = 2.97–9.08) and had health problem post-delivery (AOR = 1.85, 95 % CI = 1.08–3.19) were significant predictors of future facility-based delivery. CONCLUSION: The predictors for facility deliveries include, availability of medicines and supplies, potential health benefits for the mother and newborn and the perception of good care from the providers. There is a growing preference for facility delivery particularly among women with higher age group, education, income and those who had antennal checkup. In order to uptake facility births, the quality improvement initiatives should regularly assess and address women’s experiences of care. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12884-016-0839-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.