Women's lived experiences of giving birth in Ghana: A metasynthesis of the literature

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this metasynthesis is to analyze women's lived experiences of giving birth in Ghana during and after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), when health policy in Ghana was changed to urge women to birth in health services with skilled attendants. METHOD: An interpretive phenomenological framework guided the review of the literature. Three electronic databases were searched as well as reference lists and author searches. Articles that met the screening criteria for inclusion were coded and thematically analyzed, then drawn together to construct the essence of women's experiences of giving birth in Ghana. RESULTS: Seven themes were constructed from the data and these were poor quality health services, maltreatment by midwives, mixed emotions about pregnancy and childbirth, supernatural fears, women wanting safe births with skilled birth attendants, uncertainty about reaching a health facility, and decision-making hierarchy. There were three counter themes and these were women wanting a home birth with a traditional midwife, defiance against dominant decision-makers by some women, and a belief that “not all nurses are bad.” CONCLUSION: Ghanaian women have heeded the MDGs and health policy messages to birth with skilled attendants, but in reality, they are not always accessible, available, appropriate, or of high quality. Maternal health services still need much improvement including more resources such as staff, essential services, medicines, and quality assurance standards.