Determinants and correlates of skilled attendance at delivery in Ghana: evidence from the 2007 Ghana Maternal Mortality Survey

Winfred A. Avogo, Illinois State University

As the countdown to the target date of the Millennium Development Goals begins, progress towards reducing maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa still lacks far behind other developing regions of the world. Skilled attendance at birth has been shown to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity. Yet, although 96 percent of pregnant women in Ghana receive antenatal care just over 1in 2 births are attended to by a skilled health provider. In this study, we examine the correlates and determinants of skilled assistance at delivery using the 2007 Ghana Maternal Mortality Study. We find that although household and individual socio-demographic factors are significant predictors of assistance at delivery, the number of antenatal visits and the timing of the first visit as well as the quality of care received during pregnancy, have a large and independent effect on skilled assistance at delivery. The implications of these findings for resourced constrained setting such as Ghana are discussed.