Asim Muhammad, Saleem Sarah, Ahmed Zarak Husain, Naeem Imran, Abrejo Farina, Fatmi Zafar, Siddiqi Sameen
Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University, Karachi 74800, Pakistan.
Healthcare (Basel). 2021 Oct 1;9(10):1314. doi: 10.3390/healthcare9101314.
Accessibility and utilization of healthcare plays a significant role in preventing complications during pregnancy, labor, and the early postnatal period. However, multiple barriers can prevent women from accessing services. The aim of this study was to explore the multifaceted barriers that inhibit women from seeking maternal and newborn health care in Thatta, Sindh, Pakistan. This study employed an interpretive research design using a purposive sampling approach. Pre-tested, semi-structured interview guides were used for data collection. The data were collected through eight focus group discussions with men and women, and six in-depth interviews with lady health workers and analyzed through thematic analysis. The study identified individual, sociocultural, and structural-level barriers that inhibit women from seeking maternal and newborn care. Individual barriers included mistrust towards public health facilities and inadequate symptom recognition. The three identified sociocultural barriers were aversion to biomedical interventions, gendered imbalances in decision making, and women's restricted mobility. The structural barriers included ineffective referral systems and prohibitively expensive transportation services. Increasing the coverage of healthcare service without addressing the multifaceted barriers that influence service utilization will not reduce the burden of maternal and neonatal mortality. As this study reveals, care seeking is influenced by a diverse array of barriers that are individual, sociocultural, and structural in nature. A combination of capacity development, health awareness, and structural interventions can address many if not all of these barriers.
医疗保健的可及性和利用情况在预防孕期、分娩期及产后早期并发症方面发挥着重要作用。然而,多种障碍可能会阻碍妇女获得服务。本研究的目的是探讨在巴基斯坦信德省塔塔地区阻碍妇女寻求孕产妇和新生儿保健服务的多方面障碍。本研究采用解释性研究设计,运用目的抽样法。使用经过预测试的半结构化访谈指南进行数据收集。通过与男性和女性进行的八次焦点小组讨论以及与女性卫生工作者进行的六次深入访谈收集数据,并通过主题分析进行分析。该研究确定了阻碍妇女寻求孕产妇和新生儿护理的个人、社会文化和结构层面的障碍。个人障碍包括对公共卫生设施的不信任以及症状识别不足。确定的三个社会文化障碍是对生物医学干预的厌恶、决策中的性别失衡以及妇女行动受限。结构障碍包括无效的转诊系统和费用过高的交通服务。在不解决影响服务利用的多方面障碍的情况下增加医疗保健服务的覆盖范围,并不会降低孕产妇和新生儿死亡率。正如本研究所示,寻求护理受到各种性质为个人、社会文化和结构的障碍的影响。能力发展、健康意识和结构干预措施相结合,即便不能解决所有这些障碍,也能解决许多障碍。