. 2021 Dec 14;21(1):834.

doi: 10.1186/s12884-021-04280-9.

Early age at first childbirth and skilled birth attendance during delivery among young women in sub-Saharan Africa

Eugene Budu¹, Vijay Kumar Chattu^{2

3}, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah⁴, Abdul-Aziz Seidu^{5

6}, Aliu Mohammed⁷, Justice Kanor Tetteh¹, Francis Arthur-Holmes⁸, Collins Adu⁹, Sanni Yaya^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
² Department of Public Health, Saveetha Medical College and Hospitals, SIMATS, Saveetha University, Chennai, TN, 600077, India.
³ Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences (Deemed University), Wardha, MS, 442107, India.
⁴ School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁵ College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. abdul-aziz.seidu@stu.ucc.edu.gh.
⁶ Centre For Gender and Advocacy, Takoradi Technical University, P.O.Box 256, Takoradi, Ghana. abdul-aziz.seidu@stu.ucc.edu.gh.
⁷ Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
⁸ Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University, 8 Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong.
⁹ Department of Health Promotion, Education and Disability Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
¹⁰ School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
¹¹ The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.

PMID: 34906105
PMCID: PMC8670119
DOI: 10.1186/s12884-021-04280-9

Early age at first childbirth and skilled birth attendance during delivery among young women in sub-Saharan Africa

Eugene Budu et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2021.

. 2021 Dec 14;21(1):834.

doi: 10.1186/s12884-021-04280-9.

Authors

Eugene Budu¹, Vijay Kumar Chattu^{2

3}, Bright Opoku Ahinkorah⁴, Abdul-Aziz Seidu^{5

6}, Aliu Mohammed⁷, Justice Kanor Tetteh¹, Francis Arthur-Holmes⁸, Collins Adu⁹, Sanni Yaya^{10

11}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
² Department of Public Health, Saveetha Medical College and Hospitals, SIMATS, Saveetha University, Chennai, TN, 600077, India.
³ Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Datta Meghe Institute of Medical Sciences (Deemed University), Wardha, MS, 442107, India.
⁴ School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
⁵ College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia. abdul-aziz.seidu@stu.ucc.edu.gh.
⁶ Centre For Gender and Advocacy, Takoradi Technical University, P.O.Box 256, Takoradi, Ghana. abdul-aziz.seidu@stu.ucc.edu.gh.
⁷ Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
⁸ Department of Sociology and Social Policy, Lingnan University, 8 Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun, Hong Kong.
⁹ Department of Health Promotion, Education and Disability Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
¹⁰ School of International Development and Global Studies, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
¹¹ The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.

PMID: 34906105
PMCID: PMC8670119
DOI: 10.1186/s12884-021-04280-9

Abstract

Background: Despite the numerous policy interventions targeted at preventing early age at first childbirth globally, the prevalence of adolescent childbirth remains high. Meanwhile, skilled birth attendance is considered essential in preventing childbirth-related complications and deaths among adolescent mothers. Therefore, we estimated the prevalence of early age at first childbirth and skilled birth attendance among young women in sub-Saharan Africa and investigated the association between them.

Methods: Demographic and Health Survey data of 29 sub-Saharan African countries was utilized. Skilled birth attendance and age at first birth were the outcome and the key explanatory variables in this study respectively. Overall, a total of 52,875 young women aged 20-24 years were included in our study. A multilevel binary logistic regression analysis was performed and the results presented as crude and adjusted odds ratios at 95% confidence interval.

Results: Approximately 73% of young women had their first birth when they were less than 20 years with Chad having the highest proportion (85.7%) and Rwanda recording the lowest (43.3%). The average proportion of those who had skilled assistance during delivery in the 29 sub-Saharan African countries was 75.3% and this ranged from 38.4% in Chad to 93.7% in Rwanda. Young women who had their first birth at the age of 20-24 were more likely to have skilled birth attendance during delivery (aOR = 2.4, CI = 2.24-2.53) than those who had their first birth before 20 years.

Conclusion: Early age at first childbirth has been found to be associated with low skilled assistance during delivery. These findings re-emphasize the need for sub-Saharan African countries to implement programs that will sensitize and encourage the patronage of skilled birth attendance among young women in order to reduce complications and maternal mortalities. The lower likelihood of skilled birth attendance among young women who had their first birth when they were adolescents could mean that this cohort of young women face some barriers in accessing maternal healthcare services.

Keywords: Age at first birth; Demographic and health surveys; Global health; Skilled birth attendance; Sub-Saharan Africa; Young women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Proportion of young women whose first childbirth occurred when they were adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa

**Fig. 2**
Proportion of young women who had skilled assistance during delivery in sub-Saharan Africa

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Early age at first childbirth and skilled birth attendance during delivery among young women in sub-Saharan Africa

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Early age at first childbirth and skilled birth attendance during delivery among young women in sub-Saharan Africa

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