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. 2018 May 30;18(1):78.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-018-0557-5.

Postnatal care utilization among urban women in northern Ethiopia: cross-sectional survey

Genet Gebrehiwot  1 , Araya Abrha Medhanyie  2 , Gebreamlak Gidey  3 , Kidan Abrha  4
Affiliations

Postnatal care utilization among urban women in northern Ethiopia: cross-sectional survey

Genet Gebrehiwot et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: Postnatal care service enables health professionals to identify post-delivery problems including potential complications for the mother with her baby and to provide treatments promptly. In Ethiopia, postnatal care service is made accessible to all women for free however the utilization of the service is very low. This study assessed the utilization of postnatal care services of urban women and the factors associated in public health facilities in Mekelle city, Tigrai Region, Northern Ethiopia.

Methods: A facility based cross sectional study design was used to assess post natal service utilization. Using simple random sampling 367 women who visited maternal and child health clinics in Mekelle city for postnatal care services during January 27 to April 2014 were selected. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0 software. A binary and multivariable logistic regression was used to identify risk factors associated with the outcome variables. P-value less than 0.05 is used to declare statistical significance.

Results: The prevalence of women who utilized postnatal care service was low (32.2%). Women who were private employees and business women were more likely to utilize postnatal care services (AOR = 6.46, 95% CI: 1.91-21.86) and (3.35, 95% CI: 1.10-10.19) respectively compared to house wives., Women who had history of one pregnancy were more likely to utilize the service (AOR = 3.19, 95% CI: 1.06-9.57) compared to women who had history of four and above pregnancies. Women who had knowledge of postnatal care service were also more likely to utilize postnatal care service (AOR = 14.46, 95% CI: 7.55-27.75) than women who lacked knowledge about the services.

Conclusions: Postnatal care utilization in the study area is low. Knowledge on postnatal care services and occupation of women had positive impact on postnatal care service utilization. The Mekelle city administration health office and other stakeholders should support and encourage urban health extension workers and health facilities to strengthen providing health education to improve the knowledge of the women about the importance of postnatal care services.

Keywords: Ethiopia; Mekelle; Postnatal care; Tigray; Utilization.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Review of Board, College of Health Sciences of Mekelle University. Permission letters was obtained from Tigray regional health bureau to selected hospitals and health centers to undertake the study before the start of data collection. The aim and purpose of the study was explained to each study participants. Unique identification number was used to ensure confidentiality of individual client information. They were informed that data were not used for other purposes other than the objective of the study. After securing necessary permissions from two hospitals namely; Mekelle and Quiha and five health centers namely; Mekelle,Aynalem,Kasech, Adishumdhun and Lachi respectively. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants. Sixteen of the study participants were between the ages of 16 to 19. These women may be considered as minors and consent might have been required from their parents or legal guardians. However, these women are women who gave birth and visited health facility for maternal and child health services on their own decision. Thus, we considered these women as adult and took written consent from themselves. This approach is advised for postpartum women under 18 to secure their privacy.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Reasons for visiting PNC clinics of women who visited public health facilities in Mekelle city, Tigray, Ethiopia/2014, n = 118
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Reasons for not utilizing PNC service of women who visited public health facilities in Mekelle city, Tigray, Ethiopia/2014, n = 249
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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