Provider and client perspectives on the use of maternity waiting homes in rural Rwanda

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization recommends the implementation of maternity waiting homes (MWH) to reduce delays in access to obstetric care, particularly for high-risk pregnancies and mothers living far from health facilities, and as a result, several countries have rolled out MWHs. However, Rwanda has not implemented this recommendation on a large scale. There is only one MWH in the country, hence a gap in knowledge regarding the potential utilisation and benefits of MWHs.

OBJECTIVE: To explore providers' and clients' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to the use of MWH in rural Rwanda.

METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study to explore health providers' and clients' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to the use of MWH in Rwanda, between December 2020 and January 2021. We used key informant interviews and focus group discussions to collect data. Data were analysed using NVivo qualitative analysis software version 11.

RESULTS: Facilitators included perceptions that the MWH offered either a peaceful and home-like environment, good-quality services, or timely obstetric services, and was associated with good maternal and neonatal outcomes. Barriers included limited awareness of the MWH among pregnant women, fear of health providers to operate the MWH at full capacity, women's lack of autonomy, uncertainty over funding for the MWH, and perceived high user fees.

CONCLUSION: The Ruli MWH offers a peaceful environment for pregnant women while providing quality and timely obstetric care, resulting in positive maternal and neonatal outcomes for women. However, its existence and benefits are not widely known, and its use is limited due to inadequate resources. There is a need for increased awareness of the MWH among healthcare providers and the community, and lessons from this MWH could inform the scale up of MWHs in Rwanda.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:16

Enthalten in:

Global health action - 16(2023), 1 vom: 31. Dez., Seite 2210881

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Tayebwa, Edwin [VerfasserIn]
Gatimu, Samwel Maina [VerfasserIn]
Kalisa, Richard [VerfasserIn]
Kim, Young-Mi [VerfasserIn]
van Dillen, Jeroen [VerfasserIn]
Stekelenburg, Jelle [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Barriers
Facilitators
Journal Article
Maternity waiting home use
Perceptions
Provider and client perspectives

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 17.05.2023

Date Revised 19.05.2023

published: Print

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1080/16549716.2023.2210881

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM356936457