Knowledge and attitude towards preconception care and associated factors among women of reproductive age with chronic disease in Amhara region referral hospitals, Ethiopia, 2022.

INTRODUCTION: Preconception care (PCC) is an important window to target maternal morbidity and mortality, especially for women with chronic diseases. However, little is known about knowledge and attitudes towards preconception care among women with chronic disease. Therefore, this study aimed to assess knowledge and attitude towards preconception care and associated factors among women of reproductive age with chronic disease in Amhara region referral hospitals, Ethiopia, 2022. METHOD: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in Amhara region referral hospitals from April 15 to June 1, 2022. A total 828 women of reproductive age with chronic disease in four referral hospitals were selected using a stratified and systematic random sampling technique. Data was collected by using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire and chart review. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out. An Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was computed to see the strength of association between outcome and independent variables. P-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULTS: This study found that 55.6% of respondents had a good knowledge of preconception care, and 50.2% had a good attitude towards PCC. Formal education (AOR: 1.997, 95% CI: 1.247, 3.196), primiparity (AOR: 2.589, 95% CI: 1.132, 5.921), preconception counseling (AOR: 3.404, 95% CI: 2.170, 5.340), duration of disease ≥ 5 years (AOR: 6.495, 95% CI: 4.091, 10.310) were significantly associated with knowledge of PCC. Older age (≥ 35years) (AOR: 2.143, 95% CI: 1.058, 4.339), secondary education and above (AOR: 2.427, 95% CI: 1.421, 4.146), history of modern family planning use (AOR: 2.853 95% CI: 1.866, 4.362), preconception counseling (AOR: 2.209, 95% CI: 1.429, 3.414) and good knowledge of PCC (AOR: 20.629, 95% CI: 12.425, 34.249) were significantly associated with attitude towards PCC. CONCLUSIONS: Women's knowledge and attitude towards preconception care were found to be low. Important measures include promoting secondary education and carrying out awareness campaigns, incorporating preconception counseling into routine medical follow-up care, and encouraging the use of modern family planning methods.

Determinants of late initiation for antenatal care follow up: the case of northern Ethiopian pregnant women.

OBJECTIVE: Early antenatal care follow-up is the main strategy of preventing pregnancy related adverse outcomes; in which World Health Organization recommends first antenatal care visit should be offered within the first trimester. However, Low utilization and late booking is the predominant problem in most developing countries including Ethiopia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of late initiation for antenatal care follow-up and associated factors among pregnant women. Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 pregnant mothers using systematic sampling technique. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed at the level of significance of p-value ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The findings showed 59.4% of pregnant women started their first visit after first trimester. Having age ≥ 25 years (AOR = 1.62, CI 1.1, 2.49), recognition of pregnancy by missed period (AOR = 2.54 CI 1.63, 3.96), pregnant mother who were not advised to start antenatal-care (AOR = 3.36, CI 1.74, 6.5) and primary educational level (AOR = 2.22, CI 1.16, 4.25) were found to be significantly associated with late initiation for antenatal care. The prevalence of late antenatal care follow-up is high. Multidisciplinary approaches to keep empowering women through education are recommended for early initiation of antenatal care.

Knowledge about Danger Signs of Obstetric Complications and Associated Factors among Postnatal Mothers of Mechekel District Health Centers, East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2014.

Background. Developing countries like Ethiopia contributed highest level of maternal mortality due to obstetric complications. Women awareness of obstetric danger sign to recognize complications to seek medical care early is the first intervention in an effort to decrease maternal death. Objective. To assess knowledge about danger signs of obstetric complications and associated factors among postnatal mothers at Mechekel district health centers, East Gojjam zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2014. Methods. An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted from August to October, 2014, in Mechekel district health centers. Systematic random sampling was used to select four hundred eleven study participants. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Data were entered to Epi Info version 3.5.3 and exported to SPSS 20.0 for further analysis. Descriptive and summary statistics were done. Logistic regression analyses were used to see the association of different variables. Odds ratios and 95% confidence interval were computed to determine the presence and strength of association. Results. According to this study, 55.1% participants were knowledgeable about danger signs of obstetric complications. Maternal and husband educational level ((AOR = 1.977, 95% CI: 1.052, 3.716) and (AOR = 3.163, 95% CI: 1.860, 5.3770), resp.), family monthly income ≥ 1500 (AOR = 2.954, 95% CI: 1.289, 6.770), being multipara (AOR = 7.463, 95% CI: 1.301, 12.800), ANC follow-up during last pregnancy (AOR = 2.184, 95% CI: 1.137, 4.196), and place of last delivery (AOR = 1.955, 95% CI: 1.214, 3.150) were variables found to be significantly associated with women's knowledge on danger signs of obstetric complications. Conclusion. Significant proportion of respondents were not knowledgeable about obstetric danger signs and factors like educational status, place of last delivery, and antenatal follow-up were found to be associated.