IntroductionGender equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex are fundamental human rights. However, the national and customary laws or societal structures result in differential treatment of women and men including boys and girls [1,2]. Large gender disparities in basic human rights, in resources and economic opportunity, and in political voice are pervasive in many countries in spite of recent gains in gender equity and equality [3][4][5]. Gender discrimination in access to and control over resources and assets has a number of negative implications for both women and girls as well as for their households and families. Moreover, when women own and control resources and family assets, they will have increased decision-making power in the household and are more likely to allocate resources to support the welfare of all family members reducing poverty and hunger [6][7][8].Indeed, we live in a male dominated world where gender power relations are clearly in favor of men. Of 1.3 billion people who live under absolute poverty around the globe, 70 percent are women. For these women, poverty doesn't just mean scarcity and want. It means denial of rights, opportunities curtailed and voices silenced. Currently, in an institutionalized patriarchal world women are systematically excluded from every sphere of public life, including areas of leadership and decision making. At least 50% of the world populations are women. Women form the core of the family and household, work longer hours than men in nearly every country, do more of the total work than men and contribute more to the development of their societies [9,10]. Despite women's contribution to the development of society and country at large, they do not enjoy the fruits of development equally as their male counterparts due the multifaceted problem that they 1 Department of Public Health, Ambo University, Ethiopia. 2 Adama Hospital Medical Colleges, Ethiopia. Correspondence: Sileshi Garoma Email: garomaabe@yahoo.com face based on their gender [9]. Women's low status in Ethiopia, as anywhere else, is expressed in different forms including their lack of assets to ownership, leadership and decision making opportunities and their multiple role that make them lag behind in every endeavor [11]. Studies on women's empowerment are scarce particularly studies based on direct indicators of empowerment such as access to and control over resources, decision making power on household matters, autonomy in seeking health care, attitude towards resisting wife beating and attitude towards right to refuse sex with husband for any reasons. As a result, there is lack of comprehensive knowledge regarding different dimensions of women's empowerment and the factors associated. This study, therefore, was conducted to examine women's empowerment situation, access to and control over resources and decision making power in Ethiopia. Methods and Materials Study area and periodThe study was conducted among married women in Nekemte town, East Wollega Zone, Oromiya Regional state, West Ethi...

Background: Colostrum is the first breast milk produced after birth and is important for promotion of health and prevention of infections of the newborn. Though breastfeeding practices are well known but the necessity of colostrum feeding is still poorly understood by mothers.Objective: To assess Knowledge, Attitude, Practices and associated factors towards colostrum feeding among mothers of infants in ambo district of west Shoa zone, Oromia, Ethiopia.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2019 among 429 mothers of infants selected by simple random sampling technique. The data were collected using structured questionnaire, focus group discussion & key informant interview by semi structured guiding questionnaire. Descriptive analysis like frequency, percentage, & mean were performed. Binary and multiple logistic regression analysis were employed to identify associated factors. Variables with p-value <0.05 with 95% confidence interval identified statistically significant.Results: Among the respondents, 278 (64.8%) mothers had good knowledge & 250 (58%) had favorable attitude. But colostrum feeding was practiced only by 227(56.5%). Mothers of neonates without any illness/finding at birth (AOR =14.87 [ 95% CI: 5.00-44.27]) & postnatal care within the first 2-3 days (AOR = 3.48 [95% CI: 1.23-9.85]) were positively associated factors; but unwanted pregnancy/birth (AOR = 0.243 [95% CI: .113-.527]), mothers suffering from any health problems during pregnancy/birth (AOR = 0.380 [95% CI: .161-.903]), lack of counseling (AOR = 0.264 [95% CI: .103-.675]), home delivery (AOR = 0.239 [95% CI: .111-.516]), & lack of information on colostrum (AOR = 0.040 [95% CI: .013-.125]) were negatively associated with colostrum feeding practices. Conclusions: Majority of respondents had good knowledge & favorable attitude but with poor practices of colostrum feeding. Good neonatal health at/soon after birth & postnatal care attendance within two to three days were positively associated with colostrum feeding practices. But, unwanted pregnancy/birth, any sickness of mother at birth/during pregnancy, lack of counseling on colostrum feeding, home delivery, & lack of information on colostrum feeding were less likely to feed colostrum.Strengthening family planning service, antenatal care, institutional delivery, postnatal care, information provision for counseling & the revision of DHIS2 for inclusion of colostrum feeding indicators were recommended interventions.

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A BSTRACT Background: Mothers who attend antenatal care (ANC) late miss the opportunity to receive health information, early interventions, and timely referrals, which leads to problems complicating pregnancy and contributes to maternal mortality. Objective: This study was conducted to assess early initiation of ANC visit and its associated factors in public health facilities at Ambo town administration, Oromiya regional state, Central Ethiopia, 2018. Methods: A total sample of 344 pregnant women who attended their first natal care visit were chosen using a systematic random selection procedure for facility-based cross-sectional research. Data were entered into EpiData Version 3.1. “The EpiData Association” Odense, Denmark (In Danish: EpiData foreningen) and analyzed using IBM SPSS Version 21 - International Business Machines Corporation, (Armonk, New York). Descriptive statistics were applied to describe the magnitude of the variable, and binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to identify factors associated with the early initiation of ANC visits. Statistically significant association was declared at a 95% confidence interval and P value (<0.05). Results: The study revealed that only 30.5% of the study respondents started their first ANC timely. Initiation of early ANC booking was affected by factors like having good knowledge of ANC follow-up (Adjusted odd ratio (AOR) = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.06, 4.78), primigravida (AOR = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.20,5.32), planned pregnancy (AOR = 2.86, 95% CI: 1.05, 7.81), partners whose occupation were merchant (AOR = 3.47, 95% CI: 1.15, 10.46), know the available service on ANC service (AOR = 3.00, 95% CI: 1.31, 6.88), and having advice from health professionals (AOR = 2.27, 95% CI: 1.05, 4.89); all these factors had shown significant association with timing of first ANC. Conclusion: Early initiation of first ANC was relatively low in the study area. Planned pregnancy, number of pregnancies, knowledge of ANC follow-up, partner’s occupation, knowing the available service on ANC service, and having advice from health professionals were factors associated with it. To improve the situation, it is important to provide continuous public health education on the importance of early initiation of ANC at public health facilities.