Determinants of practice of birth preparedness and complication readiness among pregnant women in Sodo Zuria District, Southern Ethiopia: Content analysis using Poisson’s regression

OBJECTIVES: Every pregnancy can face risk. One of the World Health Organization recommendations for health promotion interventions for maternal and newborn health was to increase birth preparedness and complication readiness. The main objective of this recommendation was to increase the use of skilled care at birth and to increase the timely use of facility care for obstetric and newborn complications. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is a dearth of documented evidence on the magnitude of birth preparedness and complication readiness and factors associated with it in our study area. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify factors affecting the practice of birth preparedness and complication readiness. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out from 15 February to 15 March 2020. A total of 698 pregnant women were randomly selected and interviewed using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. A multivariate generalized linear regression with Poisson link was carried out to see the effect of each independent variable on the dependent variable. RESULT: Of the sampled 710 participants, 698 participated, which made a response rate of 98.3%. The mean score of practice of birth preparedness and complication readiness was 3.3 (standard deviation = 1.8). Mothers who used pre-pregnancy contraception methods (adjusted odds ratio = 1.22 (95% confidence interval = 1.09, 1.37)), used bare feet as a mode of transportation (adjusted odds ratio = 1.11 (95% confidence interval = 1.01, 1.21)), used more antenatal care content (adjusted odds ratio = 1.09 (95% confidence interval = 1.06, 1.13)), and whose husbands were educated at the primary level of education (adjusted odds ratio = 1.19 (95% confidence interval = 1.03, 1.37)) were predictors in multivariable general. CONCLUSION: The mean score and overall practice of birth preparedness and complication readiness were low. This study revealed a low level of birth preparedness and complication readiness. In order to improve access to lifesaving care for women and neonates, there is a pressing need for implementation of existing strategies to increase practice of birth preparedness and complication readiness.