Factors Associated with Birth Preparedness and Complication Readiness Among Pregnant Women in Bench Maji Zone, Southwest Ethiopia: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Birth preparedness and complication readiness is the process of preparing for normal birth and anticipating the actions needed in case of an emergency. About 300 million women in the developing world affected by short-term or long-term illness, even death brought by pregnancy and childbirth. This is because insufficiency birth and emergency preparedness. The objective of this study was to assess birth preparedness and complication readiness, and its associated factors among pregnant women in Bench Maji Zone. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A community based crosssectional study was conducted `on 605 participants. Multi-stage sampling was used to select woredas and kebeles by simple random sampling technique. The study subjects were selected by systematic sampling technique. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to control confounds. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval was used to examine associations between dependent and independent variables. P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULT: This study identified that the knowledge and practice of respondents about birth preparedness and complication readiness were 285(48.4%) and 249(42.3%) respectively. Place of residence (AOR 2.0; 95%CI: 1.2–3.2), occupational status of mother (AOR3.2; 95%CI: 1.2–8.1), knowledge of BP/CR (AOR 12.6; 95%CI: 7.5–21.4) and knowledge of danger sign during pregnancy (AOR 1.9; 95%CI: 1.1–3.3) were found to have statistically significant association. CONCLUSION: The status of birth preparedness and complication readiness was low. Place of residence, occupation, having knowledge about birth preparedness and complication readiness, and having knowledge about danger signs during pregnancy were the factors associated with birth preparedness and complication readiness.