CONCLUSION
Our
survey echoes that a significant number of parturients at the delivery
unit of the Tamale Teaching Hospital were well informed of epidural
labour analgesia service. Surprisingly, very few showed interested in
the epidural labour analgesia service. We identified age, educational
background, cultural or religious beliefs, cost of the epidural labour
analgesia service and attitude of some midwives to influence the
patronage. The findings of this study have concepts for obstetric and
anaesthesia education and practice. Healthcare providers have the
responsibility to publicize comprehensive and evidence-based data to the
public. Parturients, family members, friends and spouses should be
educated on the benefits and risks of epidural for labour analgesia
before admission to the delivery unit. An in-depth understanding of the
factors observed in this study may well qualify healthcare workers to
help in the decision-making process.