Adherence to iron with folic acid supplementation and its associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care follow up at Debre Tabor General Hospital, Ethiopia, 2017.

IntroductionNutritional anemia is a major public health problem throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. Iron with folic acid supplementation (IFAS) is recommended to mitigate anemia and its resulting complications during pregnancy. There has been limited study on IFAS adherence of pregnant women in the study area. The aim of this study was to assess adherence to IFAS and its associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care service in Debre Tabor General Hospital, Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 9 to April 8, 2017, at Debre Tabor General Hospital. A total of 262 study participants were included and selected by systematic random sampling. The entire interviewed questionnaire was checked and entered into EpiData version 3.1 and then exported to SPSS version 20 for windows for analysis. IFAS adherence status was defined as, if pregnant mothers took 65% or more of the IFAS which is equivalent to taking IFAS at least 4 days a week during the 1-month period preceding the study. Regressions were fitted to identify independent predictors of IFAS adherence. A P-value of less than 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance.ResultsA total of 241 pregnant women were included (92% response rate), of which 107 (44%) were adherent to IFAS. Only 39% received IFAS counseling, and 52% had some knowledge of IFAS. Gravidity (AOR = 2.92 95% CI (1.61, 5.30)), gestational age at first ANC visit (AOR = 3.67, 95% CI (1.94, 6.97)), pregnant women who got advice about IFAS (AOR = 2.04, 95%CI (1.12, 3.75)), current anemia (AOR = 2.22, 95%CI (1.45, 4.29)), and had knowledge about IFAS (AOR = 3.27, 95% CI (1.80, 5.95)) were statistically associated with adherence to IFAS among pregnant women.ConclusionOverall, IFAS adherence among pregnant women was low. The associated factors with adherence of IFAS were counseling and knowledge, early ANC attendance, pregnancy history, and current anemia diagnosis. IFAS counseling by health workers was low but, when given, was associated with improved IFAS adherence. Health workers and health extension workers should consistently counsel on IFAS benefits during ANC visit, to improve IFAS adherence during the current and subsequent pregnancies

Health facility delivery service utilization and its associated factors among women in the pastoralist regions of Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract Background and Aims Utilizing health facility delivery services is one of the pillars of lowering maternal mortality. However, the coverage of health facility delivery service utilization continues to be uneven around the world. In Ethiopia, particularly among pastoralist regions, health facility delivery service utilization is less common. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the pooled prevalence of health facility delivery service utilization and identify the associated factors among women in the pastoralist regions of Ethiopia. Methods A comprehensive systematic search was carried out in PubMed/MEDLINE, Hinary, Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Google, and Ethiopian online university repositories. Studies were appraised using the JBI appraisal checklist. The analysis was done using STATA version 16. The pooled analysis was conducted using DerSimonian and Laird random‐effects model. I2 test and Eggers & Begg's tests were used to assess the heterogeneity and publication bias, respectively. p < 0.05 was set to determine the statistical significance of all the tests. Results The pooled prevalence of health facility delivery service utilization was 23.09% (95% CI: 18.05%−28.12%). Have ANC visit during pregnancy (OR = 3.75, [95% CI: 1.84−7.63]), have information regarding maternal health service fee exemption (OR = 9.51, [95% CI: 1.41−64.26]), have a nearby health facility (OR = 3.49, [95% CI: 1.48−8.20]), and women attend secondary and above education (OR = 3.06, [95% CI: 1.77−5.29]) were found to be significant associated factors. Conclusions Health facility delivery service utilization is very low in pastoralist regions of Ethiopia, and ANC follow‐up, distance from the health facility, women's educational status, and information regarding maternal health service fees were identified as significant associated factors. Consequently, strengthening ANC services, introducing free health services to the community, and constructing health facilities for the nearby residents are recommended to improve the practice