Maternal Health Service Uptake Is Associated with a Higher Skin-to-Skin Care Practice in Ethiopia: Result from a National Survey

Abstract

Background. Though skin-to-skin care (SSC) is becoming an important newborn care package at both facility and community levels in Ethiopia, there is a lack of evidence to monitor the progress at each level. Therefore, this study is aimed at quantifying the proportion of SSC at both national and regional levels and identifying factors that affect SSC uptake in Ethiopia. Method. We used the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey data. The survey employed a multistage cluster sampling method. We included 7,488 live births in the analysis. The factors influencing SSC practice were identified using a multivariable logistic regression model. We reported adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results. In Ethiopia, 24.3% of mothers practiced SSC for their newborns (95% CI = 23.3 , 25.2). The highest proportion was in Addis Ababa (63%), and the lowest was in the Somali region (14.5%). Attending 1-4 antenatal care ( AOR = 1.51 , 95 % CI = 1.08 , 2.12 , giving birth at health facility ( AOR = 4.51 , 95 % CI = 2.16 , 9.44 , and having female births ( AOR = 1.24 , 95 % CI = 1.01 , 1.54 ) were associated with more odds of practicing SSC. However, giving birth by the cesarean section had resulted in lower odds of practicing SSC ( AOR = 0.37 , 95 % CI = 0.22 , 0.63 ). Regions with reduced odds of SSC practice include Amhara ( AOR = 0.57 , 95 % CI = 0.40 , 0.82 ), Somali ( AOR = 0.51 , 95 % CI = 0.31 , 0.83 ), and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People ( AOR = 0.64 , 95 % CI = 0.43 , 0.94 ). Conclusions. The SSC practice was low in Ethiopia with a high level of variation between regions. In Ethiopia, maternal health service uptake affects the SSC of the newborns. Well-tailored community-level interventions are needed to increase skin-to-skin care practice among home delivery mothers.

Prevalence and factors associated with skin-to-skin contact (SSC) practice: findings from a population-based cross-sectional survey in 10 selected districts of Bangladesh

“…Our study also showed that mothers having one to three ANC visits and four or more ANC visits (at least one from an MTP) had better reported SSC practice. Our finding is consistent with previous studies in Bangladesh, Gambia, and Ethiopia [ 7 , 26 , 27 ]. ANC has the potential to improve SSC practice in two ways.…”

“…One striking finding of our study is that mothers who delivered in the facilities have a higher likelihood of SSC practice compared to the mothers who delivered at home. Previous studies from Bangladesh, Gambia, and Ethiopia also found facility delivery to be a significant positive predictor of SSC practice [ 7 , 26 , 27 ]. Although Bangladesh is observing an increasing trend in coverage of facility deliveries, 50% of women are still delivering at home [ 6 ].…”

“…It is lower than the reported prevalence in Sri Lanka at 50% and the Gambia at 35.7% [ 23 – 27 ]. The low prevalence of SSC practice in these developing countries could be attributed to various factors such as the high burden of home deliveries, low ANC coverage and low availability of community-based interventions, and sociodemographic and health system factors [ 23 , 24 , 26 – 28 ].…”

The practice of early mother-newborn skin-to-skin contact after delivery of healthy term neonate and associated factors among health care professionals at health facilities of Southwestern Oromia, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

“…The mother-infant SSC approach has emerged as the most effective neonatal care option at the hospital and community level. Consequently, both national and subnational research is becoming a foundation of the strategy to monitor progress at the desired level [ 9 ].…”

Identifying geographical inequalities of maternal care utilization in Ethiopia: a Spatio-temporal analysis from 2005 to 2019

“…Evidence shows that precise mapping and modeling of maternal-health-related services [18,19], including maternal care utilization during pregnancy and childbirth, provide in-depth analysis to prevent maternal deaths. Previous studies on pregnant women's utilization of ANC care [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27], utilizing ANC service four or more times [21,24,25,28,29], and birth attended in a health facility [30][31][32][33][34][35] have found significant geographical variations across these indicators. Though, there has been a limited attempt to quantify the geographical heterogeneity of maternal care utilization indicators among Ethiopian regions.…”