determinants of risk Factors associated to Pregnancy and delivery in Maasai Community in Kiteto district, Tanzania

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine risk factors associated to pregnancy and delivery. Thepurpose was to find out whether danger signs during pregnancy and delivery motivate the respondentsto attend and seek for maternal health services. The study employed cross-sectional research designin four villages in Kiteto District namely Partimbo, Kimana, Engusero and Ngipa to find out thedeterminants of risk factors associated to pregnancy and delivery.The study employed a three stage sampling technique. A simple random sampling technique was usedto identify wards in the first stage. In second stage, four villages were purposively selected from twodifferent wards. In third stage, households as a unit of analysis were obtained through random sampling,since the population was homogenous. However, in order to get population sample within each village,probability proportional to size (PPS) was applied.Cross tabulation and Chi-square were tested to determine the association of the variables and factorsinfluencing maternal health utilization. The findings showed that 53 percent of the respondents wereaware of danger signs associated with pregnancy and delivery. About 87 percent delivered at homedue to various reasons mentioned like distance and transport costs. Also from the findings majority ofthe respondents by 64.6 percent suffered from anemia during the first pregnancy. However, the levelof antenatal clinic visits was not significantly correlated with any other socio-demographic variables,but place of delivery and assistance during delivery showed a significant association with socio-demographic variables (p < 0.005).Indeed, a lot could be gained by simple prevention, in particular regular antenatal visits, vaccinations,and quick referral in case of complications. Also TBAs should be taken as part of RCH in these pastoralistcommunities because of their cultural believes. Regular training and seminars should be conducted soas to help mothers in those remote areas.