A study of safe delivery practices and determinants of skilled birth attendants in Bangladesh

Adequate medical facilities and the assistance of a skilled birth attendant (SBA) at delivery are important in preventing maternal deaths. The present study aims at exploring the women's delivery practices regarding the delivery place and delivery providers in urban and rural Bangladesh, and to identify the determinants of delivery by SBAs. Data were collected from 200 married women aged 15–49 years from rural and urban areas in the country's second largest and important place Chittagong division through a structured questionnaire. Bivariate analysis using logistic regression was done to see the association between delivery assistance by an SBA as the dependent variable with several socio-demographic and behavioural variables calculating p-value and odds ratio (95% confidence interval). The results depict that respondents’ as well as their husbands’ education and occupation, monthly income, place of residence, exposure to media and husbands’ participation in wives’ natal care were significantly (p < 0.001) associated with respondents’ having SBAs during delivery.