Zelee Hill and her co-authors aimed to identify facilitators and barriers for women to deliver their babies in health facilities in Gombe State, North East Nigeria. The team conducted narrative and in-depth interviews with women who had already delivered in a health facility, as well as their family members and community health workers.

Results from the study show that a safe delivery was the main motivator for a facility delivery and the women and families who chose a facility delivery had a desire to be modern and rejected traditional practices. On the flip-side, decision-making power, social norms, accessibility, cost and perceived poor quality of care were reported as barriers.

By studying both facilitators and barriers to facility delivery authors conclude that there is a need for further interventions to address a wide rang of issues at multiple levels which contribute to low levels of facility delivery despite the high rates of maternal mortality prevalent in Nigeria.