Open Journal of Nursing, 2019, 9, 68-77 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojn ISSN Online: 2162-5344 ISSN Print: 2162-5336 DOI: 10.4236/ojn.2019.91007 Jan. 24, 2019 68 Open Journal of Nursing Socio-Demographic and Maternal Determinants of Birth Preparedness among Pregnant Women Seeking Skilled Birth Services at a Rural General Hospital, Mid Western Uganda Munguiko Clement 1* , Masereka Enos Mirembe 1 , Twesigye Deus 1 , Bahizi Archbald 2 1 Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Mountains of the Moon University, Fort Portal, Uganda 2 Uganda Blood Transfusion Services, Ministry of Health, Kampala, Uganda Abstract Background: Although the practice of preparing for childbirth among preg- nant women is associated with 24.0% and 53.0% reduction in neonatal and maternal mortality respectively in low income countries, it remains inade- quately practiced in Uganda. This study sought to assess socio-demographic and maternal determinants of birth preparedness among pregnant women at one of the rural hospitals in Uganda. Methods: This was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted among 332 pregnant women in first stage of nor- mal labour between April and May 2017 at Kagadi hospital, mid western Uganda. In order to understand socio-demographic and maternal determi- nants of birth preparedness, we considered overall level of birth preparedness as our dependent variable and determined it using five elements. Data were collected using a researcher administered questionnaire. We used descriptive statistics to understand characteristics of respondents and multivariable lo- gistic regression model to determine factors associated with birth prepared- ness. Results: Only 94 (28.3%) of the 332 pregnant women who were in- cluded in the study were prepared for childbirth. We found that male part- ners having secondary level of education (aOR 1.86, CI 1.107 - 3.243, p 0.02), discussing birth plan with spouse (aOR 1.97, CI 1.06 - 3.490, p 0.03), monthly income of at least eighty three dollars (aOR 2.98, CI 1.847 - 5.981, p 0.002), being escorted by the spouse during ANC visit (aOR 1.73, CI 1.010 - 2.964, p 0.04), intention to conceive (aOR 1.99, CI 1.087 - 3.65, p 0.026) and being health educated about birth preparedness during antenatal visit (aOR 1.90, CI 1.006 - 3.59, p 0.048) were associated with birth preparedness. Conclusion and Recommendations: We observed that the level of birth preparedness How to cite this paper: Clement, M., Mirembe, M.E., Deus, T. and Archbald, B. (2019) Socio-Demographic and Maternal Determinants of Birth Preparedness among Pregnant Women Seeking Skilled Birth Services at a Rural General Hospital, Mid Western Uganda. Open Journal of Nursing, 9, 68-77. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojn.2019.91007 Received: November 20, 2018 Accepted: January 21, 2019 Published: January 24, 2019 Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access