Social capital as a determinant of pregnant mother’s place of delivery: experience from Kongwa District in central Tanzania

Introduction: Maternal ill health contributes highly to the global burden of diseases in countries South of Sahara including Tanzania. Ensuring that all deliveries take place in health facilities and hence attended by skilled health personnel is one of the strategies advocated by global and national policies, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, the number of women delivered by skilled health personnel has remained low in sub Saharan Africa despite of a number of interventions. We sought to determine the role of social capital in facilitating health facility delivery. Methods: We randomly selected 744 households with children aged less than five years from two randomly selected wards in a rural area in Tanzania. Mothers were enquired about place of delivery of the last child. Social capital was assessed using a modified questionnaire with both structural and cognitive aspects of social capital, administered in face-to-face interviews. Principal Component Analysis ...引言：孕产妇不良健康状况是包括坦桑尼亚在内的撒哈拉以南国家全球疾病负担的重要组成部分。确保所有分娩均在医疗卫生机构开展，并由熟练卫生人员助产，是包括千年发展目标（Millennium Development Goals）在内的全球及各国卫生政策所倡导的策略之一。然而，尽管已实施多项干预举措，撒哈拉以南非洲地区由熟练卫生人员助产的分娩比例仍处于较低水平。本研究旨在探讨社会资本在推动孕产妇选择医疗卫生机构分娩中的作用。 方法：本研究从坦桑尼亚农村地区两个随机抽取的行政村中，选取744户有5岁以下儿童的家庭作为研究对象。向每位产妇询问其末次分娩的地点。采用涵盖社会资本结构维度与认知维度的改良版问卷，通过面对面访谈的方式对研究对象的社会资本进行评估。主成分分析（Principal Component Analysis）……