Abstract:
Background: A stillbirth is defined as the birth of a baby after fetal death (antepartum stillbirth) or
during labor (intrapartum stillbirth). Globally the burden of still birth was high which 48 million
stillbirths is in the last two decades. Stillbirth is a negative pregnancy result and a significant issue in poor
country, especially Ethiopia. To curb this high stillbirth rate and neonatal mortality, identifying
determinants of stillbirth is essential for creating effective interventions and evaluating public health
initiative. The main reasons for conducting this study is no studies conducted on the factors that cause
stillbirth in the study area, as well as time, sociodemographic difference, socioeconomic and cultural
difference with previous study. Variations in study population, study sample and study design.
Objective: To identify the determinants of still birth among deliveries attended at public hospitals in
South West Shoa Zone, Oromia, central Ethiopia, 2022.
Methods: Hospital based unmatched case-control study design was conducted from September 15/2022
to October 15/2022 GC. A total of 302 sampled charts of mothers who gave birth were included in the
analysis with proportion of case to control ratio of one to two. Cases are selected consequentively and
controls are selected by systematic random sampling. Data was extracted from medical records and
entered Epi info and coding, clearing and analysis was done using SPSS V20. The association of stillbirth
with different independent variables was assessed in bivariable logistic regression and multivariable
logistic regression analysis. Those variables with a P <0.25 in the bivariable logistic regression analysis
were entered to multivariable logistic regression analysis with 95% CI and p- value <0.05.
Results: In this study multivariable analysis showed that different maternal medical illness
(AOR:3.7,95%CI,1.5-9.3),pre-eclampsia/eclampsia(AOR:3.3,95%CI,1.2-9.2),antepartum hemorrhage
(AOR:5.8,95%CI,2.1-15.9),referral mode of admission (AOR:2.8,95%,1.4-5.3), obstructed labor
(AOR:3.8,95%CI,1.9-7.8), duration of labor >24 hrs. (AOR: 4.7, 95%CI, 2.3-9.6), new born gestational
age < 37 wks (AOR: 3.5, 95%CI, 1.7-7.4) and congenital defect (AOR: 6.9, 95%CI, 2.4-19.7) were found
to have significant association.
Conclusion and recommendations: This study identified the determinants of still birth like
different maternal medical problems, preeclampsia/eclampsia , antepartum hemorrhage, referral mode of
admission, obstructed labor, duration of labor >24 hrs, new born gestational age <37 wks and congenital
defect. Based on the results of this study, efforts to enhance care throughout the antepartum and
intrapartum period should be maximized.
