Challenges in postnatal care provision in Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Most maternal deaths occur during the first 48 h after delivery; thus, a critical time for monitoring possible complications arising from the delivery. Quality postnatal care can contribute to a decrease in maternal mortality and morbidity rates. Despite the importance of postnatal care, it is generally a neglected aspect of maternal and child health services in most developing countries, including Ethiopia. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to describe the challenges experienced by postnatal care providers and coordinators in providing postnatal care in the Ethiopian context. METHODS: A quantitative cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted and data were gathered from 422 postnatal care providers and coordinators during November 2018. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the respondents and the data were gathered through a self-administered questionnaire. The data were cleaned, coded and entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 for analysis. Open-ended questions for qualitative enhancement were open-coded and thematically analyzed. RESULTS: The findings revealed a lack of physical resources; infrastructure problems; cultural concerns; inadequate capacity building; inaccessibility of health services; unavailability of guidelines; a lack of communication with healthcare users and poor monitoring and evaluation as challenges. CONCLUSION: To improve postnatal care in Ethiopia and, ultimately, mother and child health, the challenges experienced by postnatal care providers and coordinators have to be dealt with. A strategic action plan with the active involvement of all stakeholders must be developed and implemented to deal with the challenges and improve postnatal care.