Postnatal Care Utilization and Associated Factors among Married Women in Benchi-Maji Zone, Southwest Ethiopia A Community Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In Ethiopia, maternal health service utilization isvery low,especially postnatal care (PNC). The percentage of motherswho receive care within two days of childbirth has shown littleprogress, from 2.4% in 2000 to 13% in 2014. However, it is very farbelow the expected level as compared to other sub-Saharan regions.Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess PNC services utilizationand its associated factors among married women in Benchi-MajiZone, Southwest EthiopiaMETHOD: A cross-sectional studywas conducted from June 15 toAugust 15, 2015. A total of 801 married women wassampled fromrandomly selected districts in the zone. Semi-structured questionnairewas used to collect, data and informed consent was obtained fromparticipants. The collected data were entered into the computer usingEpi-data version 3.0, and then exported to SPSS Windows version 20.0for analysis. Logistic regression was used to identify importantpredictors of PNC utilization.RESULT: Out of 765 participants, 392(51.24%) of married womenwho attended PNC in this study. Out of them, more than two-third305(77.8%) attended mainly to immunize their baby.The vast majority,251(86.3%), of respondents mentioned lack of information as a mainreason for not following PNC, and of them, the majority mentionedthat they were appointed to come after 45 days for FamilyPlanning(FP). In comparison with house wives, farmer women wereless likely (AOR 0.3, 95 % CI 0.2-0.7) to attend for PNC. Awareness ofproblems during postnatal period showedthe strongest association inwhich those who knew the problems were about nine times (AOR 8.795 % CI 5.6-13.4) more likely to attend PNC. Similarly, marriedwomen who followedantenatal care (ANC) were more likely (AOR 2.295 % CI 1.1-4.6) to attend PNC in comparison with those who did notattend ANC at all.CONCLUSION: Residence, ANC follow-up, maternal occupation,awareness about problems of postnatal period had effects on use ofPNC. In light of this study, providing deep counselling about PNC atthe timeof ANC visit and discharge after delivery is stronglyrecommended. Furthermore, targeting more of rural married womenmay increase PNC utilization.