Factors Influencing Patronage of Traditional Birth Attendants by Women of Childbearing Age: A Study of Peretou-Gbene Community of Bayelsa State

Abstract Background: African traditional healthcare is grounded in thousands of years of knowledge and has sustained life, on its own or in concert with Western medicine. Objectives: 1) To Identify factors influencing patronage of Traditional Birth Attendants 2) Describe the Perception of Traditional Birth Attendants among women of childbearing age. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used to investigate factors influencing patronage TBAs using 250 randomly selected women of childbearing age. Results: Several factors affected the patronage of TBA services. These factors included Distance of the health center, time to go to the health center, cost/flexibility of payments and trust. Respondents associated TBAs with Spiritism, offerings of Parental and Family planning services. Some negativity associated with TBA include; not being able to recognize complications early, the risk of birth injuries. General level of perception was high, 67.00%. There is no significant difference between educational level and perception of TBA. Conclusions: TBAs are very much trusted in the Peretou-Gbene Community. A comprehensive strategy to increase the availability, accessibility, and affordability of delivery care services should be considered in the Peretou-Gbene Community. Health education strategies are required to increase community awareness about the importance of health services along with the existing financing mechanisms for the poor communities. Keywords Women of childbearing age; Traditional birth attendants; Health centre; Factors; Patronage