Institutional delivery and associated factors among women who gave birth in Benishangul Gumuz region, South West Ethiopia

Background: Maternal mortality from pregnancy and childbirth remains a major public health problem. Increasing access to institutional delivery is one of the key strategies to reduce childbirth-related maternal mortality. Despite all the efforts, institutional deliveries in Ethiopia remain low. Understanding factors associated with institutional delivery is important to devise strategies to improve facility based child […]

Anemia severity among children aged 6-59 months in Gondar town, Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study

Background: Anemia is a public health problem affecting both developed and developing countries. Childhood anemia is associated with serious consequences including growth retardation, impaired motor and cognitive development, and increased morbidity and mortality. Hence, this study aimed at assessing the prevalence and factors associated with severity of anemia among children aged 6-59 months in Gondar […]

Institutional delivery and postnatal care services utilizations in Abuna Gindeberet District, West Shewa, Oromiya Region, Central Ethiopia: A Community-based cross sectional study

Background: Delivery at health institutions under the care of trained health-care providers and utilization of postnatal cares services plays vital roles in promoting child survival and reducing the risk of maternal mortality. More than 80 % of maternal deaths can be prevented if pregnant women access to essential maternity cares like antenatal care, institutional delivery […]

Analysis of cesarean section rates using Robson ten group classification system in a tertiary teaching hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Background: Cesarean section (CS) is an important indicator of access to, and quality of maternal health services. The World Health Organization recommends the Robson ten group classification system as a global standard for assessing, monitoring and comparing CS rates at all levels. This study aimed to assess the rate of CS and perform an analysis […]

Influence of gestational weight gain on baby’s birth weight in Addis Ababa, Central Ethiopia: a follow-up study

BACKGROUND: Gestational weight gain (GWG) is an important indicator of fetal well-being during pregnancy. Inadequate or excessive GWG could have undesirable effects on birth weight. However, information regarding the influence of GWG on birth weight is lacking from the Ethiopian setting. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the influence of GWG and other maternal-related factors […]

Partograph utilization as a decision-making tool and associated factors among obstetric care providers in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Globally, a total of 13.6 million women have died due to maternal causes from 1990 to 2015. Majority of these deaths occurred in resource-limited countries. Among the causes of these deaths, obstructed and prolonged labor covers the highest percentage, which could be prevented by cost-effective and affordable health interventions like partograph use. Therefore, this […]

Reasons for low utilization of intrauterine device utilisation amongst short term contraceptive users in Hossana town, Southern Ethiopia: a qualitative study

Background: Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are one of the long-acting, safe and effective methods of contraception in women across the world. However, this method is underutilised in many countries, including Ethiopia. Several quantitative studies have been used to address this problem and generated a list of factors associated with this problem. However, this list lacks detailed […]

Determinants of institutional delivery service utilization in Ethiopia: A population based cross sectional study

Background: The incidence of maternal mortality remains unacceptably high in developing countries. Ethiopia has developed many strategies to reduce maternal and child mortality by encouraging institutional delivery services. However, only one-fourth of women gave birth at health facility, in the country. This, this study aimed to identify individual level factors and to assess the regional […]

Co-design and implementation of a mHealth intervention targeting fathers and mothers to improve breastfeeding

Background: Evidence has shown that SMS text message-based health education is effective in improving exclusive breastfeeding. However, there is limited evidence on the development and design of SMS messaging intervention targeting fathers and mothers. Method: This is the formative assessment and intervention design for a larger trial targeting both fathers and mothers for breastfeeding support […]

Effectiveness of participatory community solutions strategy on improving household and provider health care behaviors and practices: A mixed-method evaluation

Introduction We implemented a participatory quality improvement strategy in eight primary health care units of Ethiopia to improve use and quality of maternal and newborn health services. Methods We evaluated the effects of this strategy using mixed-methods research. We used before- and-after (March 2016 and November 2017) cross-sectional surveys of women who had children 0-11 […]