Deliver in the right place and get there in time! Healthcare-seeking behaviour for delivery in cases of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in rural Cambodia: a prospective cohort social autopsy study
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Introduction
Perinatal mortality remains high in low-resource settings, with many deaths preventable. While clinical causes of stillbirths and neonatal deaths are often examined, non-medical factors such as care-seeking behaviour and barriers are less well understood. This study uses social autopsy to explore upstream, social factors associated with stillbirths and neonatal deaths in rural Cambodia.
Methods
A prospective, population-based observational study over three years (2019–2022) in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia. A social autopsy questionnaire to examine socio-demographic characteristics, health-seeking behaviours, and delays in healthcare-seeking was developed. The Three Delays model was used to summarise barriers faced by pregnant women at the time of delivery. Social autopsy interviews were conducted for all stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Data were analysed descriptively.
Results
Social autopsy was completed for 315 out of 404 (78.0%) stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Most mothers (87.3%, 275/315) reached a health facility for delivery. However, 20.4% (56/275) of them bypassed their nearest facility. Among women attending their nearest facility, 64.8% (142/219) delivered there, and of these, 69.0% (98/142) delivered within one hour of arrival. In total, nearly half of all deliveries (49.5%) occurred either at home (28/315), enroute (12/315), or within one hour of arrival at the first facility (116/315). Delays to seeking facility-based care for delivery were common: 65.7% (207/315) of women reported experiencing at least one delay type, most often at home (43.5%) or at the facility (36.7%).
Conclusion
Healthcare-seeking behaviour was generally appropriate, but not timely. Deliveries occurring very soon after arrival at health facilities likely limited the quality of care that healthcare workers could provide. Addressing home and facility delays may help to reduce these late-presenting deliveries, as well as reducing non-facility births. To improve the timeliness of facility arrival by pregnant women for delivery, we need to better understand the perspectives of families and healthcare workers.
