Women’s views towards social support during Labour at Omdurman maternity hospital (OMH), Sudan 2015

Background: labour is a physiological and emotional process for which a woman needs to be accompanied by someone she trusts. Objectives: To assess pregnant women’s views regarding the importance of social support during labour and their preferences of companions at OMH 2015 Methods: A descriptive, hospital-based, cross-sectional study conducted at OMH during 2015. All pregnant women attending antenatal care clinics who were booked for vaginal delivery were included in the study after an informed consent. Data was collected by trained registrars; recorded information included socio-demographic parameters, woman’s views on the importance of social support during labour (SSL), preference for companionship and whether they would like their supporters to attend childbirth. Those with previous childbirth were asked about their experience on labour or having SSL given to them by medical or nursing staff. All were asked about their need for formal education about labour and childbirth during the antenatal visits. Results: Out of 2348 women included in this study, 1995(85.0%), would like their companions to be present during childbirth particularly; educated (PV= 0.001), urban residents (PV= 0.0001), nulliparous (PV= 0.0001) and younger age clients (PV= 0.0001). The preferred companion was the mother 1091 (54.7%) followed by sisters 559 (28.0%), husband 305 (15.3%) and other relatives 40 (2.0%). Refusal of companion was mainly due to socio-cultural reasons, particularly among elder multiparous less educated women. Most (98.5%) of participants would like to have education during antenatal care visits. Among women with previous experience of delivery 979(95.0%) rated the care providers during labour as poor social supporters. Conclusions: Most of pregnant women appreciated the importance of SSL and would like to have a companion, mainly by mothers and sisters, and they would like to have formal education about labour and childbirth. There is a need for change in health policies and practice and strengthening providers’ practice towards social support.