Utilization of Institutional Delivery Services and Associated Factors among Mothers in Semi-pastoralist, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: The problem of home delivery and maternal mortality is still the problem which is ubiquitous in most developing countries like Ethiopia. Trendy home delivery practices due to cultural norms, beliefs, perceptions and knowledge of women were deterrent to maternal health service utilization. Methods: A community based cross sectional study with internal comparison was conducted on 756 women who have delivered in the last two years. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to analyze the data. Odds ratio with 95% CI was estimated to assess the predictors of institutional delivery services. Result: Only 14.5% of the mothers delivered by skilled birth attendants, while a significant majority 83.3% gave birth at home. Maternal Knowledge about dangerous health problems related to pregnancy AOR (95% CI): 2.59(1.03,6.54), Lack of maternal knowledge about free delivery service AOR (95% CI): 0.02(0.01,0.06), Exposures to radio at least once a week AOR (95% CI):3.41(1.18, 9.89), husbands attendance during ANC AOR (95% CI): 4.08(1.25,13.32), knowledge of child birth need health professional help AOR (95% CI):3.60(1.40,9.30), Expecting birth complication during delivery AOR (95% CI): 3.68(1.41,9.65), preference of hot food AOR (95% CI): 0.03(0.01,0.12), a need to buried placenta immediately at home AOR (95% CI): 0.02(0.01,0.05) were important predictors of institutional delivery services. Conclusion: The study indicates that there is low utilization of institutional delivery service. Knowledge of mothers, exposure to radio, husband attendance at ANC, preference of hot food, a need to buried placenta immediately at home were found to be factors affecting utilization of institutional delivery services.