Background: The COVID 19 pandemic is causing huge stress on the health care system of all countries in the world. The impact of the pandemic is both social and economic. Pregnancy is an exciting and sometimes stressful experience. Being pregnant during a disease outbreak may add extra anxiety and concern for pregnant women and for those who provide care for them [1, 2]. During the initial stages of the pandemic, it appeared Africa would be spared the burden of COVID-19. However, by April 7th, a total of 45 countries within the WHO African region had reported over 7000 cases (although some place it at over 10 000), with at least 292 deaths and 612 people recovered. Ethiopia, being one of the developing countries trying to address the diverse needs of its people, is currently at the verge of the epidemic [5, 7]. Objectives: The general objective of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 infection on maternal and reproductive health care services among mothers getting service in governmental health institutions of Dessie town, 2020 G.C. Methods: Institution based cross sectional study design using mixed (quantitative supplemented with qualitative) method was employed to identify the impact of COVID-19 infection on maternal and reproductive health care services among women who get service in governmental health institutions of Dessie town. The study was conducted from July 1-15 / 2020. Result: According to this study, Six percent (6%) of antenatal care attendees, 18% of delivery care attendees and nearly half (46.7%) of postnatal care attendees reported inappropriate service delivery due to fear of health care providers, shortage medical supplies and staff work load. The study also showed that utilization of these services was decreased due to fear of clients to go to health institutions. Conclusion and recommendation: This study concluded that COVID-19 significantly affects the quality and utilization of maternal and reproductive health care services. The study also showed that utilization of these services was decreased due to fear of clients to go to health institutions. Ministry of health should continue maternity and reproductive health care services such as family planning to be prioritized as an essential core health service. Key words: COVID-19, impact, antenatal care, Dessie

Background: Uterine rupture remains a major obstetric problem particularly in less developed countries. The aim of this study was to identify determinants of uterine rupture among mothers getting delivery services in Dessie Referral Hospital from January 2016 to June 2016, North East Ethiopia.Methods: A prospective unmatched case control study was conducted recruiting 42 mothers with uterine rupture as case group and 168 for control group. Pretested, structured questionnaire was used to collect data.Results: Descriptive statistics and Logistic regression models were utilized considering 95% confidence interval and p-value of 0.05 to determine the presence and strength of association between dependent and independent variables. Majority (94.2%) of cases came from rural areas, 76.2% had obstructed labor and 55% had prolonged labor. Of 85.7% of cases have reported number of pregnancies ≥ 5. Mothers who encountered obstructed labor and previous Caesarean section scar were at higher risk of uterine rupture (AOR=22.2, 95% CI=2.8-4.1 and AOR=13.6, 95% CI=2.16-17.84 respectively). Mothers living in urban area, having Antenatal Care follow-up, shorter labor stay and primi-parity were found to have lower risk of uterine rupture.Conclusions: This study revealed that living in rural areas, absence of Antenatal Care follow-up, prolonged labor, obstructed labor, grand multiparity and previous Caesarean section scar were determinants of uterine rupture. Viable strategies have to be designed and implemented to tackle these determinants of uterine rupture.

Introduction: Globally, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women; in 2008 there were an estimated 530,000 new cases and more than 270,000 women die from it [1]. In Ethiopia, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer following breast cancer and the leading cause of death from cancer. Annually, an estimated number of 4648 women develop the cancer and 3,235 die from it. Low-resource countries experience 85% of the global burden and in regions such as Eastern Africa and South-Central Asia. Low perception of risks and lack of awareness about cervical cancer screening amongst women and challenges of access to cervical cancer screening for early detection of disease have been reported amongst factors responsible for increasing incidence and mortality due to cervical cancer in developing countries [2]. Objective: The general objective of this study was to determine the proportions of cervical precancerous lesions and to assess associated factors among women clients (30-49) in Gynecology OPD of Dessie referral hospital and FGAE, 2016. Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study design involving quantitative method was employed. For the quantitative survey 422 women in the age group of 30-49 were participated. The sample size was computed by using single population proportion formula for finite population with 95% confidence level, prevalence of 50% and marginal error of 2%. Pretested and structured questionnaire was used in order to facilitate reliable response. Questionnaires for each item were adapted from previously done similar studies. Pretest was done on five percent of study population. Results: Among 422 study participants who were currently screened, 390(92.4%) were negative for cervical precancerous lesions when tested by visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA), 29(6.9%) were positive for cervical precancerous lesions and 3(0.7%) were suspicious for cancer. The majority (69.9%) of the study subjects did not ever screen for cervical cancer in their life time. Concerning the reasons for not screening, 98(33.3%) of them said that it is painful while 54(18.3%) and 37(12.5%) of them said I am health and it is expensive respectively. Conclusion: The proportion of cervical precancerous lesion was 6.9%. In multivariate regression analysis increased age(>46), high parity(>4), first intercourse at <20 years, having > two sexual partners, positive HIV status, History of Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection, History of sexually transmitted infection (STI), Smoking, History of abortion, nonuse of condom and family history of cervical cancer were significantly associated with the development of cervical precancerous lesions.

Background: The COVID 19 pandemic is causing huge stress on the health care system of all countries in the world. The impact of the pandemic is both social and economic. Pregnancy is an exciting and sometimes stressful experience. Being pregnant during a disease outbreak may add extra anxiety and concern for pregnant women and for those who provide care for them [1, 2]. During the initial stages of the pandemic, it appeared Africa would be spared the burden of COVID-19. However, by April 7th, a total of 45 countries within the WHO African region had reported over 7000 cases (although some place it at over 10 000), with at least 292 deaths and 612 people recovered. Ethiopia, being one of the developing countries trying to address the diverse needs of its people, is currently at the verge of the epidemic [5, 7]. Objectives: The general objective of this study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 infection on maternal and reproductive health care services among mothers getting service in governmental health institutions of Dessie town, 2020 G.C. Methods: Institution based cross sectional study design using mixed (quantitative supplemented with qualitative) method was employed to identify the impact of COVID-19 infection on maternal and reproductive health care services among women who get service in governmental health institutions of Dessie town. The study was conducted from July 1-15 / 2020. Result: According to this study, Six percent (6%) of antenatal care attendees, 18% of delivery care attendees and nearly half (46.7%) of postnatal care attendees reported inappropriate service delivery due to fear of health care providers, shortage medical supplies and staff work load. The study also showed that utilization of these services was decreased due to fear of clients to go to health institutions. Conclusion and recommendation : This study concluded that COVID-19 significantly affects the quality and utilization of maternal and reproductive health care services. The study also showed that utilization of these services was decreased due to fear of clients to go to health institutions. Ministry of health should continue maternity and reproductive health care services such as family planning to be prioritized as an essential core health service.

Background Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death and one of the top 20 causes of death among women in Ethiopia. Cervical cancer screening service has a vital value to reduce morbidity and mortality. Even though cervical cancer screening service utilization in Ethiopia is unacceptably low, its determinant factors were not well studied in the study area. Hence, this study was aimed at filling this information gap. This study aimed to identify determinants of cervical cancer screening service utilization among women attending healthcare services in Amhara region referral hospitals, Ethiopia. Methods Hospital-based case–control study was conducted among 441 women (147 cases and 294 controls) from May to July 2021. Cases were included consecutively and controls were selected using a systematic random sampling technique from the randomly selected hospitals. A pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data from respondents. The data were entered into Epi data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed. Adjusted odds ratio with its 95% confidence interval and p value < 0.05 were used to estimate the strength and significance of the association. Result A total of 147 cases and 294 controls were enrolled in this study. Women with 30–39 years-old [AOR = 2.3; 95% CI 1.21, 4.68] and 40–49 years-old [AOR = 4.4 95% CI 1.97, 10.12], urban residence [AOR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.36, 5.21], secondary education [AOR = 4.4; 95% CI 2.18, 8.87] and diploma and above [AOR = 2.0; 95% CI: 1.05, 4.59], ever gave birth [AOR = 9.4; 95% CI 4.92, 18.26], having multiple sexual partners [AOR = 2.8; 95% CI 1.60, 5.03], good knowledge towards cervical cancer screening [AOR = 3.6; 95% CI 2.07, 6.43] and positive attitude on cervical cancer screening [AOR = 2.0, 95% CI 1.20, 3.70] were significant determinants of cervical cancer screening service utilization. Conclusion In this study, age (30–39 and 40–49), urban residence, secondary education, ever gave birth, good knowledge of cervical cancer screening, positive attitude towards cervical cancer screening, and having multiple sexual partners were significant determinants of cervical cancer screening service utilization. There is a need to strengthen the policy and health education on safe sexual practices and healthy lifestyles through information dissemination and communication to scale up screening service utilization.