A study on preference and practices of women regarding place of delivery.

This was a cross-sectional study in Basra, and involved 353 women who had recently given birth drawn from health care institutions. The main objective was to determine the factors that helped determine the women's choice of place of delivery: hospital or home. Only 16.1% delivered at home, while 83.9% delivered in hospital. The main reasons for choosing hospital delivery were safety and security (96.6% of the women), better hygiene (66.6%) and because of medical advice (63.2%). The main reasons for the choice of home delivery were social support and privacy (98.2%). The women were consistent in their choice of delivery place across different pregnancies (previous, present and future).