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Background: Stillbirths are indicators of the quality of obstetrics care in health systems. Stillbirth rates and their associating factors vary by socio-economic and geographical settings. Published data on stillbirths and their associating factors in the Volta Region of Ghana are limited. This limits understanding of local factors that must be considered in designing appropriate interventions to mitigate the occurrence of stillbirths. This study determined the incidence of stillbirths and associated factors among deliveries at Ho Teaching Hospital (HTH) and contributes to understanding the consistent high stillbirths in the country and potentially in other low-resourced settings in sub-Saharan Africa. Method: This was a prospective cohort study involving pregnant women admitted for delivery at HTH between October 2019 and March 2020. Data on socio-demographic characteristics such as age and employment, obstetric factors including gestational age at delivery and delivery outcomes like birthweight were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. The primary outcome was the incidence of stillbirths at the facility. Summary statistics were reported as frequencies, percentages and means. Logistic regression methods were used to assess for association between stillbirths and independent variables including age and birthweight. Odds ratios were reported with 95% confidence intervals and associations with p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 687 women and their 702 newborns contributed data for analysis. The mean age (SD) was 29.3 (6.3) years and close to two-thirds had had at least one delivery previously. Overall stillbirth incidence was 31.3 per 1000 births. Of the 22 stillbirths, 17 were antepartum. Pre-eclampsia was the most common hypertensive disorder of pregnancy observed (49.3%, 33/67). Among others, less than 3 antenatal visits and low birthweight increased the odds of stillbirths in the bivariate analysis. In the final multivariate model, pregnancy and delivery at 28–34 weeks gestation [AOR 9.37(95% CI 1.18–74.53); p = 0.034] and induction of labour [AOR 11.06 (95% CI 3.10–39.42); p < 0.001] remained significantly associated with stillbirths. Conclusion: Stillbirth incidence was 31.3 per 1000 births with more than half being antepartum stillbirths. Pregnancy/delivery at 28–34 weeks' gestation increased the odds of a stillbirth. Improving the quality of antenatal services, ensuring adherence to evidence-based protocols, accurate and prompt diagnosis and timely interventions of medical conditions in pregnancy particularly at 28–34 weeks' gestation could reduce incidence of stillbirths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Rendering quality childbirth services that lead to higher levels of maternal satisfaction is an important goal of every health institution. Despite efforts at enhanced client satisfaction over the years, there are still some quality concerns for health policymakers and managers to address. This study sought to assess maternal satisfaction with childbirth services at a university hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. Methods. We conducted a facility-based cross-sectional study among women in postnatal wards after delivery at the University Hospital, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. They were recruited using a systematic sampling method, and their perspective about the quality of childbirth services was assessed using a service quality (SERVQUAL) tool. Linear regression analysis was performed to identify the relationship between SERVQUAL attributes and maternal satisfaction. Statistical significance was set at p value < 0.05 at a 95% confidence interval. Results. Of the 277 participants interviewed, 79.8% (221) were satisfied with the childbirth services. Delays (49.5%), unprofessional conduct from health workers (7.2%), poor facilities (10.8%), and an inadequate number of skilled staff (15.5%) were identified as the challenges mothers encountered at the facility. After adjusting for all the components of the SERVQUAL model, reliability (adjusted β = − 3.28 , p = 0.001) and empathy (adjusted β = 2.21 , p = 0.028) were the most significant predictors of maternal satisfaction with childbirth services. Conclusion. Majority of postnatal women were generally satisfied with the overall childbirth services they received at the University Hospital. The service quality components that significantly predicted maternal satisfaction with childbirth services were "reliability" and "empathy." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]