Prevalence, causes, and factors associated with obstructed labour among mothers who gave birth at public health facilities in Mojo Town, Central Ethiopia, 2019: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Obstructed labour is a type of abnormal labour that is one of the causes of obstetric complications such as maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity. Early detection is the key to reducing complications. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the prevalence, causes, and factors associated with obstructed labor among mothers who gave birth at public health facilities in Mojo Town, Central Ethiopia. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from November 10 to December 30, 2019 among 318 women who gave birth at public health facilities in Mojo Town. Face-to-face interviews and participants’ medical record reviews were utilized to gather data. The collected data were checked, coded, and entered into EpiData version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. A binary logistic regression model was used to test the association between the dependent and independent variables. In bivariate analysis, all variables with a p-value less than 0.25 were included in multivariate analysis. Finally, a significant statistical association was declared at a p-value less than 0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of obstructed labour in this study was 51 (16%), and cephalo-pelvic disproportion (66%), mal-presentation (22%), and mal-position (12%) were reported as causes of obstructed labour. Primgravidity (AOR = 7.74: 95%CI = 2.13, 18.2) and a one-time antenatal care follow-up (AOR = 9.50: 95%CI: 1.91, 33.07) were found to be associated factors with obstructed labour, while labour duration of 12–24 hours (AOR = 0.20: 95%CI = 0.17, 0.87) was identified as a factor decreasing the risk of obstructed labour. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of obstructed labour in this study was higher than in the majority of previous similar local and global studies. In this study setting, cephalo-pelvic disproportion, mal-presentation, and mal-position were found to be the causes of obstetric labour. Additionally, factors such as gravidity, frequency of antenatal follow-up, and duration of labour were significantly associated with obstructed labour. Therefore, the concerned entities need to work to curb young age pregnancy as well as to strengthen counselling mothers on the importance of subsequent antenatal-follows in the prevention of obstructed labour.