Maternal health care use among married women in Hossaina, Ethiopia

Pregnancy and child birth are natural process of continuity of life. For many it is a normal process, for some it puts life at risk impending complications. Provision of skilled care for all women before, during, and after childbirth is a key in saving women's life and ensuring delivery of healthy baby. Maternal health service drop-out through the course of pregnancy is widely claimed, yet by how much it is dropped is not known. The main aim of this study was to identify the use of maternal health service over the course of pregnancy and child birth in a comprehensive manner.

A community based cross-sectional quantitative study on 623 women supported by qualitative inquiry was conducted Hossaian town, South Ethiopia during January 1-31, 2014. A structured questionnaire was used to generate the quantitative data and 4 Focus Group Discussions (FGD) were carried out to support the finding. Multiple logistic regression was used to control the effect of confounding. Odds ratios with 95% CI used to display the result of analysis. Data generated from the FGD was analyzed using thematic analysis.

The study revealed that 87.6% of women attended at least one antenatal care (ANC). Among 546 women who attended ANC, 61.3% of the women made their first visit during second and third trimester of pregnancy and 49% had less than four antenatal visits. The study also revealed that 62.6% of deliveries were assisted by skilled attendants and 51.4% of the women received at least one postnatal check-up. Parity, pregnancy intention and awareness on danger signs of pregnancy during pregnancy were significantly associated (p < 0.05) with ANC usage. Skilled delivery attendance was significantly associated with some socio-demographic, economic and obstetric factors. Average family monthly income, awareness on obstetric danger signs of pregnancy during recent pregnancy, and frequency of ANC were positive predictors of Postnatal Care (PNC) utilization.

Though use of maternal health care services is relatively higher, however, it is not adequate. Engaging women in their own reproductive health affairs, strengthening maternal health care, increasing community awareness about obstetric danger signs during pregnancy and child birth, and telling the benefit of family planning should be major targets for intervention.