Assessing antennal visits and skilled birth attendant at birth in the West Gonja District in the Northern Region of Ghana

Antenatal care (ANC visits) utilization and skilled birth attendance during delivery are found to be low in developing countries, more so the rural communities of Ghana. The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of pregnant women (PW) who had prenatal care (ANC visits) with the number who had skilled birth attendance during labour in at the West Gonja District of the Northern region of Ghana. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 110 postpartum women (PPW) from 6 health facilities selected through purposive sampling. Data was entered and analysed using SPSS software version 23 (Chicago). The mean age of the PPW interviewed was 28.9 years (SD=6.0) and all were married. The great majority (83.6%) did not have any formal education and approximately, 41.8% were traders. Majority (86.4%) of the postpartum women initiated ANC for their last delivery in the second trimester and that 94.0% had 3 – 4 visits before labour. The majority (76.4%) of the PPW had their last deliveries in a health facility and were all attended to by skilled birth attendant (100.0%). Only 8 (7.2%) out of the 110 PPW had their deliveries by a traditional birth attendants (TBAs). Of this number, 4 (50.0%) had no reason for delivering at the TBA, 3 (37.5%) said there was no health facility in their community, however, 1 (12.5%) said she did not have complications during her last delivery by a TBA. The study found that ANC care services were well-patronized in the West Gonja District by the women. Approximately 76.4% of the women had their last deliveries in a health facility and were all attended to by skilled birth attendant, only 7.2% were attended to by TBAs.