Traditional Birth Attendants and Childbirth in Kenya: A Case of Kitui West Sub County

The first objective of this research was to explore the role played by traditional birth attendants (TBAs) during pregnancy and childbirth. The second objective was to establish perspectives of pregnant women regarding the role played by TBAs during childbirth. Eight TBAs out of 12 were selected using simple random sampling technique. These 8 TBAs were drawn from the environs of 10 sampled health facilities. To calculate the sample size for the pregnant women to be interviewed about their perspectives towards TBAs from the 10 sampled health facilities , this formula was used, 1230 x 15/100=184.5 rounded up to 185. According to 2009 census, the population of women at child bearing age (15 – 49 years) was 1230 in Kitui West Sub-County (KNBS et al.; 2009). The final sample size for pregnant women was 187 as shown under the discussion on sampling techniques. An in depth individual interview guide was used to gather information from the 8 TBAs and 165 pregnant women. Unstructured interview guide was used to gather information from 22 respondents who formed focus group discussion (FGD). To make a meaning from the raw data, it was transcribed and emerging themes and patterns according the objective of the study were picked. The Chi-square test analysis showed that more than a half of the women preferred to deliver at home assisted by a TBA. (χ2=1.572; df=2; p=0.036) where p=0.05. This was confirmed by the fact that 37 percent out of 135 respondents who attended ANC clinic and 90 percent out of 30 respondents who did not attend ANC clinic delivered at home assisted by TBAs.