ABSTRACT
Background: Home births are common in resource poor countries and postnatal practices vary from one community to the other. Objective: To determine the proportion of home births; reasons for home delivery; and evaluate postnatal practices in Madagali; north-eastern Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study of 400 women of reproductive age; who had put to birth in the past 1 year. The study was carried out over a period of 8 weeks from April to June 2010. The multistage method of sampling was used to select respondents. In the first stage; four of the five health districts were chosen randomly; namely; Gulak; Madagali; Sukur; and Duhu. The questionnaires were evenly distributed among the four health districts. In the second stage; from each district; two villages were chosen by simple random sample. In the third stage; two wards were selected in each village by simple random sampling. Result: Of the 400 respondents interviewed; 289 (72.2) were aged between 20 and 39 years; and most; 374 (93.5) were married. Only 14 (3.5) had tertiary education. Most respondents; 224 (56.0) were farmers and grandmultiparae; 187 (46.7). A total of 196 (49.0) women delivered at home; whereas 204 (51.0) delivered at the hospital. Of the 196 respondents who delivered at home; the bedroom 142 (72.4); was the preferred place of birth. The most common reason for home birth was short duration of labor in 71 (36.3) cases. Delivery was conducted by untrained persons in 50; (25.4); whereas 99 (50.8) and 31 (15.5) deliveries were supervised by Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and Midwives/Nurses; respectively. Postpartum; the majority; 235 (58.7) respondents used sanitary pads to stanch lochia; whereas 140 (35) used rags. Conclusion: A significant number of births take place in the home and supervised by unskilled persons. Against the backdrop of poor education and low socio-economic status of respondents; perineal hygiene can be adjudged satisfactory. There is the need to increase on the number of hospital birth and also trained TBA who conduct most of home deliveries