Abstract:
Background: The continuum of maternity care is a continuity of care that a
woman receives during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period from skilled
providers in a comprehensive and integrated manner. Completion of the continuum of
maternity care was considered when women received at least four antenatal care
visits, childbirth attended by skilled birth attendants and postpartum check-up within
the first week of delivery. Despite existing evidences regarding maternity care
services discretely, it was not well known in Ethiopia including the study area.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the completion of maternity
continuum of care and associated factors among women who gave birth in the last 6
months in Chelia district, Oromia region, Ethiopia, 2021.
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study with a stratified random
sampling technique was conducted among 428 mothers who gave birth in the last 6
months in Chelia district from August 20 to September 30, 2021 with a pretested,
structured and interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data was entered into
EpiData3.1 and analyzed using SPSS software version 25. Bivariable logistic
regression analysis was done and variables with p-value < 0.25 were considered as
candidate for multivariable binary logistic regression analysis. Adjusted Odds Ratios
(AOR) and their 95% confidence intervals were estimated to identify the presence and
strength of associations, and statistical significance was declared at a p-value <0.05.
Result: An overall completion of maternity continuum of care was 21.5% (95% CI:
17.8-25.5). Secondary and above educational attainment of women (AOR=4.20, 95%
CI:1.26-13.97), < 30 minutes’ of time spent on walking by foot (AOR=4.00, 95% CI:
1.67-9.58) and the use of Ambulance as means of transportation to reach the nearest
health facility(AOR=3.68, 95% CI: 1.23-11.06), having five and more children
(AOR=0.21, 95% CI: 0.05-0.90), planned pregnancy (AOR=3.29, 95% CI: 1.02-
10.57), attending pregnant women’s conference (AOR=13.96, 95% CI: 6.22-31.30),
early ANC booking (AOR=3.30, 95% CI: 1.54-7.05), being accompanied by partners
(AOR=3.64, 95% CI: 1.76-7.53) and informed when to return for postnatal care
(AOR=3.57, 95% CI: 1.47-8.70) were factors associated with the completion of
maternity continuum of care.
Conclusion and recommendation: An overall completion of the continuum of
maternity care was low in the study area. Educational status of mothers, time spent by
walking on foot and means of transportation used to reach the nearest health facility,
parity, having planned pregnancy, attending pregnant women’s conference, time of
antenatal care booking, partners accompany and informing when to return for
postnatal care before discharge were factors associated with the completion of
maternity continuum of care. Therefore, appropriate strategic interventions that retain
women in the continuum of maternity care by targeting those factors were
recommended to be in place by different stakeholders.
