Iron-folic acid adherence and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at Metema District, Northwest Ethiopia.

Background: Iron deficiency accounts for about half of anemia cases worldwide. Iron and folate supplementation can effectively control and prevent anemia during pregnancy. Despite the efforts to reduce iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy, only a few women took an iron supplement as recommended. The aim of this study is to assess adherence to iron-folic acid supplementation and associated factors. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1 to May 31, 2021, among pregnant women attending the antenatal care clinic at Metema district governmental health institutions. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews with an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Epi info version 7.1 and SPSS 20 were used for data entry and analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was done to identify factors associated with iron-folic acid supplementation for pregnant women. Significant associations were determined based on the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence, with a p-value < 0.05. Results: The proportion of pregnant women adhering to iron-folic acid supplementation was 34.9% (95% CI: 31, 38.8%). Maternal educational status [AOR = 6.09, 95% CI (3.26, 11.4)], time of first antenatal consultation [AOR = 1.95, 95% CI (1.25, 3.06)], having good knowledge of iron with folic acid supplementation [AOR = 2.80, 95% CI (1.83, 4.28)], having a good understanding of anemia [AOR = 1.61, 95% CI (1.06, 2.43)], and a history of anemia during current pregnancy [AOR = 2.31, 95% CI (1.36, 3.94)] were factors affecting iron-folic acid supplementation adherence. Conclusions: Iron-folic acid supplementation adherence was low in the study area. Increasing maternal awareness, having good knowledge about the benefits of iron-folate supplements, and early registration to antenatal care were positive determinants of iron with folic acid adherence.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice towards Labor Pain Management and Associated Factors among Skilled Birth Attendants Working at Hospitals Found in Central, West, and North Gondar Zones, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: Delivery of the infant into the arms of a conscious and pain-free mother is the most exciting and rewarding moment in maternal care services. Physical and mental care of women during delivery requires good knowledge and a positive insight to the needs and rights of the mothers. Little was known regarding skilled birth attendants' knowledge, attitude, and practice towards labor pain management in the study area. Hence, the current study aimed at assessing knowledge, attitude, and practice, and associated factors towards labor pain management among skilled birth attendants working at hospitals found in central, west, and north Gondar zones, northwest Ethiopia, 2019. Method: A multicenter institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June 1 to 30, 2019. A census sampling technique was used to include a total of 336 skill birth attendants. A pretested standardized self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were then entered into Epi Info 7.1.2 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were undertaken to identify factors associated with outcome variables. The level of significance of the study was declared based on adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval at a p value of ≤0.05. Result: The proportion of skill birth attendants having good knowledge, a favorable attitude, and a good practice on labor pain relief methods was 47%, 41.96%, and 57.14%, respectively. Age of ≤30 years (AOR = 5.43; 95% CI: 1.25, 23.53), educational status of 2nd degree and above (AOR = 3.56; 95% CI: 1.32, 9.60), working at a private primary hospital (AOR: = 6.55; 95% CI: 2.15, 19.93), and working at a referral hospital (AOR = 2.24 : 95% CI: 1.01, 4.93) are factors significantly associated with good knowledge while having good knowledge on labor pain relief methods (AOR = 2.26; 95% CI: 1.42, 3.60) and working at private primary hospitals (AOR = 7.01; 95% CI: 1.92, 25.65) had statistically significant association with favorable attitude and good practice on labor pain relief methods, respectively. Conclusion and Recommendations. Poor knowledge, unfavorable attitude, and poor practice towards labor pain management were found in this study. Strengthening the capacity of public health facilities and providing continuous professional development (CPD) training for the skilled birth attendants would be helpful in improving knowledge, attitude, and practice towards labor pain management.

Prevalence and associated factors of pelvic organ prolapse among women attending gynecologic clinic in referral hospitals of Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: While pelvic organ prolapse is common in clinical observation, there is a lack of evidence regarding its actual proportion and associated factors in the study area. Understanding the prevalence and risk factors could potentially help with prevention. Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors related to pelvic organ prolapse in the Amhara region, northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 424 women, recruited by the systematic random sampling technique. Data were collected in a face-to-face interview using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire to assess the symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse and the socio-demographic, obstetric, gynecologic, medical and surgical characteristics. The stage of prolapse was determined by pelvic examination using the Simplified Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification staging system. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analyses were employed. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of pelvic organ prolapse (stage I-IV) was found to be 37.6% when determined by pelvic examination and 9.2% as assessed by prolapse symptoms. Age ≥ 40 years [AOR 2.46 (1.320, 5.314)], age at first delivery ≤ 20 years [AOR 4.719 (2.44, 9.11)], carrying heavy objects for ≥ 5 hours a day [AOR 12.724 (4.89, 33.07)], parity ≥ 4 [AOR 3.739 (1.693, 8.208)], prolonged labor [AOR 3.487 (1.699, 7.159)], constipation [AOR 2.835 (1.273, 6.317)] and anemia [AOR 2.22 (1.049, 4.694)] were significantly associated with pelvic organ prolapse. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of pelvic organ prolapse is high in the area; thus, developing information and education programs on avoiding risk factors is advisable to reduce the problem.

Neonatal near Miss and Its Predictors among Neonates Delivered at Debretabor General Hospital, Northern Ethiopia; A Retrospective Analysis.

BACKGROUND: In many low-resource countries, the progress of neonatal mortality reduction is very slow. The scenario is notably true in sub-Saharan Africa including Ethiopia. For every neonatal death, there are lots of near missed neonates. Generating evidences on the extent and predictors of neonatal near miss is a key step in neonatal mortality reduction efforts. However, there is limited evidence in this aspect in Ethiopia. OBJECTIVE: This study is aimed at assessing the proportion of neonatal near miss and associated factors among neonates delivered at Debretabor General Hospital, Northern Ethiopia, 2019. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 422 neonates delivered at Debretabor General Hospital from July 1st, 2018, to June 30th, 2019. Both pragmatic and management criteria of definition of neonatal near miss were utilized. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select the cards of the study participants. Data were extracted with structured and pretested checklist, entered in the EpiData, and then exported to SPSS version 20. Both descriptive and analytical procedures have been done. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and cross tabulations were carried out. The binary logistic regression model was fitted and variables with p value < 0.20 were entered in the multivariable logistic regression model. Both crude and adjusted odds ratios with the corresponding 95% CI were computed. The level of significance has been claimed based on the adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI and its p value of ≤0.05. RESULTS: The proportion of neonates experiencing near miss was obtained to be 32.2% with 95% CI (28, 36). Rural residence (AOR = 4.41; 95% CI: 2.57,7.55), incomplete ANC visit (AOR = 3.16; 95% CI: 1.90,5.25), primiparous (AOR = 2.55; 95% CI: 1.59,4.12), pregnancy-induced hypertension (AOR = 3.23; 95% CI: 1.19,8.78), premature rupture of membrane (AOR = 4.65; 95% CI: 1.70,12,73), cephalic-pelvic disproportion (AOR = 3.05; 95% CI: 1.32,7.01), and antepartum hemorrhage (AOR = 4.95; 95% CI: 1.89,12.96) were the independent predictors of neonatal near-miss. Conclusion and Recommendations. The proportion of neonatal near miss was found to be high in the study setting. Most of the determinants of near miss are modifiable obstetric-related factors. Hence, stakeholders need to consider the aforesaid factors while they design interventions.