The role of distance and transportation in decision‐making to seek emergency obstetric care among women of reproductive age in South‐South Nigeria: A mixed methods study

Abstract

Objective to explore the role of transportation in seeking emergency obstetric care among women with obstetric complications.

Methods A mixed-methods design. The population for the study were women aged 15-49 years who had experience direct obstetric complications and were attending the health facility for care at the time of this study. Three-hundred and eighteen (318) women completed the questionnaires, whilst in-depth interviews were held for six women who were conveniently selected from a large (318) quantitative respondent. Both questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used in collecting data for this study. Quantitative data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) using both inferential and bivariate analysis, whilst a qualitative content analysis was carried out on the qualitative data.

Results Of the 318 respondents, 91.2% accessed health facilities by motorised transport with 8.8% on-foot. Mode of transportation was (p=0.003) related to regularity at antenatal care, with those who came on-foot being regular at ANC than those that came on motorised transport.

Conclusions The study concludes that efficient and suitable transport system as well as distance are key factors influencing women role in decision-making to seek care.