Maternal near miss hospitalizations in the Borana Zone, Ethiopia: A facility-based longitudinal cross-sectional study.

Background: Maternal near miss refers to a woman who nearly died but survived a complication that occurred during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days of pregnancy termination. While there has been considerable progress in reducing maternal mortality rates, maternal near miss cases can provide valuable insights into the quality of maternal healthcare and help identify areas for improvement. However, there is limited evidence on the factors contributing to maternal near miss cases, including health system failures, delays in care, and provider-related factors. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the incidence, causes, and factors associated with maternal near misses in public Hospitals of Borena Zone. Methods: A facility-based longitudinal cross-sectional study design was employed at four Public Hospitals in Borena Zone from August 15, 2022, to November 15, 2022, using the WHO criteria for maternal near miss event. In total, 117 participants were included in the study. Eligibility was determined using key clinical, organ dysfunction, laboratory, and management criteria, as per the WHO guidelines for near-miss events. Underlying and contributing causes of maternal near misses were documented from each participant's records. Result: There were 1421 deliveries during the study period and 117 eligible women developed potentially life-threatening conditions. Only 61 women experienced severe maternal outcomes (55 near misses and six maternal deaths). The maternal near miss incidence ratio was 38.7 per 1000 live births, with a mortality index of 9.8%. Hypertensive disorders and obstetric hemorrhage are the leading underlying causes of maternal near misses. Conclusion: The incidence of maternal near miss was remarkably high when compared to previous studies. Giving special emphasis to life-saving interventions, critical care, reducing delays and improving the referral system are critical to improve quality of care.

Utilization of routine health data and its determinants among healthcare workers in public health facilities of harari region, eastern Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND: Routine health information is the pillar of the planning and management of health services and plays a vital role in effective and efficient health service delivery, decision making, and program improvement. Little is known about evidence-based actions to successively advance the use of information for decision making. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the level and determinants of routine health data utilization among health workers in public health facilities in the Harari region, Ethiopia. METHODS: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was used from June 1 to July 31, 2020. A total of 410 health care providers from two hospitals and five health centers were selected using a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire complemented by an observational checklist. The collected data were thoroughly checked, coding, and entered into Epi-data version 4.6 before being transferred to Stata version 14 for analysis. Frequency and cross-tabulations were performed. To measure factors associated with routine use of health data, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyzes were performed. The odds ratio with a 95% CI was calculated, and then a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULT: The general utilization of routine health data was 65.6%. The use of routine health data was significantly associated with healthcare workers who had a positive attitude towards data [AOR = 4 (2.3-6.9)], received training [AOR = 2.1 (1.3-3.6)], had supportive supervision [AOR = 3.6 (2.1-6.2)], received regular feedback [AOR = 2.9 (1.7-5.0)] and perceived a culture of information use [AOR = 2.5 (1.3-4.6)]. CONCLUSIONS: Sixty percent of health professionals had used routine health data utilization. Training, supervision, feedback, and the perceived culture of information were independently associated with the use of routine health data utilization. Therefore, it is critical to focus on improving data utilization practices by addressing factors that influence the use of routine health data.

Cost of maternal complications and its associated factors among mothers attending Hawassa public hospitals, Southern Ethiopia.

Background: The cost of maternal complications is considered as an important factor hindering the utilization of maternal health care services. However, information of estimate of spending on maternal complication was lacking. This study was aimed to estimate the cost of maternal complications and associated factors among mother's attending Hawassa public hospitals, Sidama Regional state, Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was conducted among 348 randomly selected mothers attending public hospitals in Hawassa from November 15 to December 15, 2021. Data was coded and entered into Epi Data version 3.1 and exported to STATA version 16.0 for analysis. Simple and multiple linear regression analysis was done. Correlation coefficient along with 95% CI was used to present the finding and p < 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Results: This study found that total median cost of maternal complications was 4895.5 (IQR = 3779) ETB. The total median direct medical cost was 1765.5 (IQR = 1649.5) ETB. Number of days absent [(R = 0.028; 95% CI: (0.023, 0.033)], distance from facility [(R = 0.001; 95% CI: (0.000, 0.002)], site of laboratory diagnosis [(R = 0.230; 95% CI: (0.140, 0.320)], number of laboratory test conducted [(R = 0.045; 95% CI: (0.021, 0.069)] were found to be significance predictors of maternal complications costs. Conclusions: Total median cost of maternal complications in current study was high. Respondents' site of diagnosis, number of days missed from work, number of laboratory tests, and distance from hospitals were independent predictors of maternal complications cost. Thus, we will recommend governments to introduce strategies that specifically help mothers with maternal complications.