Magnitude of home delivery and associated factors among child bearing age mothers in Sherkole District, Benishangul Gumuz regional state-Western-Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization estimates that globally only 43% of women have access to skilled care during deliveries and the rest are exposed to unskilled delivery service. A recent Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey report stated that maternal death was 412 per 100,000 in 2016.This still indicates that maternal health remains a major public health problem in Ethiopia irrespective of the government’s measure to institutional delivery. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of home delivery and associated factors among women of child bearing age in Sherkole district, Western Ethiopia. METHODS: A community based cross sectional study was conducted among women aged 15–49 years in Sherkole district, Benishangul Gumuz region from January to June 2018. A total of 451 randomly selected women were included in the study. Stratified sampling followed by simple random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using pretested and structured questionnaires. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to identify factors associated with home delivery among women in the child bearing age. An adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was computed to determine the level of significance. RESULTS: The magnitude of home delivery was 353 (80%) and were assisted by non-skilled birth attendants. Mothers whose husband chooses the place of delivery [AOR: 5.6, 95% CI (2.1–15.2), Mothers’ occupation ([AOR: 0.21 95% C I (0.08–0.57), ANC visit [AOR: 95 CI: 5.1(1.6–15.8), decision making [AOR: 95 CI: 0.3(0.01–0.7)] and traditional remedies [AOR: 95%CI: 0.03 (0.01–0.09)] were significantly associated with home delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the findings of the survey, it was concluded that the overall magnitude of home delivery was found to be high. Therefore, it is recommended that the promotion of antenatal care follow-up with maternal and child health information particularly on delivery complications or danger signs needs due attention and remedial actions. In addition, it is indispensable introducing defaulter tracing mechanisms in ANC services, by learning from experiences of settings that have already adopted it.