Acceptability of group antenatal care by women in selected facilities in Burkina Faso
Abstract [EN]
Background: Antenatal Care (ANC) models have been evolving over the years as programs seek to increase uptake and utilization of maternal and child health services especially in low to medium-income countries. Antenatal care encompasses services provided to a pregnant woman to ensure a good outcome of the pregnancy for both the mother and the newborn. During the last twenty years, WHO has issued several guidelines for antenatal care, the last one being the ANC guidelines for a positive experience of pregnancy. In recent years, a new approach to ANC service delivery has emerged and it is called group ANC (G-ANC). In G-ANC, cohorts of pregnant women with approximately the same gestational age are followed regularly until the end of their pregnancy. G-ANC has been reported to increase utilization of care, uptake of recommended health practices, patient satisfaction and reduce maternal morbidity and mortality rates in high-income countries G-ANC implementation in terms of its acceptability by pregnant women has not yet been assessed in Burkina Faso.
Objective: The study’s objectives were to assess whether G-ANC is acceptable to pregnant women at six pilot sites where it has been introduced in Burkina Faso and to identify challenges to address in order to scale-up of this approach.
Methods: This was a qualitative study conducted in six pilot health facilities in Burkina Faso with 58 women who attended G-ANC sessions in the selected sites. Pregnant women who have attended at least one G-ANC session were the study participants. The study used simple random sampling to select six facilities out of the twelve pilot sites, and a purposive sampling technique was used to recruit pregnant women. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to conduct 6 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with 8-12 pregnant women. The discussions lasted for an average of one hour. Informed consent was obtained from pregnant women participating in the study, and ethical approval was obtained from UGHE and Burkina Faso IRBs. FGDs were recorded by the data collectors fluent in the local languages and French. Thematic analysis was used to develop themes from the narratives. The textual passages were coded using N-VIVO software. Emerging themes were summarized in table format.
Results: Six main themes emerged from the analysis of the data from the FGDs: Overview of women’s overall experience of group ANC, advantages and difficulties of group ANC, relations between beneficiaries and the healthcare workers as well with their husbands/partners, changes brought about by group ANC, suggestions and proposals for improving group ANC. Pregnant women are satisfied with G-ANC as it has allowed them to learn new skills and build better relationships with healthcare workers and among themselves. They identified some challenges with G-ANC, such as the duration of the session and inadequate space for group meetings. One of made their main leading suggestions was to conduct G-ANC during the weekends, so their husbands/partners could attend.
Conclusion: The study results revealed that G-ANC is highly accepted by pregnant women in Burkina Faso. Tapping on this low-cost high-impact initiative is likely to pay more dividends for the pregnant women of Burkina Faso and those from other low to medium-income countries.
Key words: Acceptability; Group Antenatal Care; Benefits, challenges
Title: Acceptability of group antenatal care by women in selected facilities in Burkina Faso
Author (s) : Konlobé Yvette OUEDRAOGO
Published in Journal of Social Sciences and Engineering , Volume 36 , Issue 7
Doi : 10.55272/rufso.rjsse