Current Pediatric Research

Globally, of the reported 289,000 maternal deaths, 67% occurred within 42 days of the postnatal period and 75% of newborn deaths occurred during the first week of life. Although the use of postnatal care services showed little improvement in Ethiopia, it is far below the expected level. In Ethiopia (2016), only 17% of women aged 15 to 49 years got postnatal care within two days of delivery, while 81% did not have postnatal care until 42 days. Despite this evidence, the data concerning the utilization of postnatal care services in the study area is scarce. Thus, this study aims to determine postnatal care services utilization and its associated factors among women in Gozamen woreda, Northwest Ethiopia. A cross-sectional community-based study was conducted between May and July 2020 among women in Northwest Ethiopia who had child aged 43 days to 6 months. A multi-stage sampling method was used to select a total of 756 participants using systematic random sampling method. The overall utilization of the postnatal health service in Gozamen woreda is said to be low. Mothers' education, ANC follow up, place of delivery and postnatal care awareness had a positive impact on the use of postnatal care services. Interventions aimed at increasing women's awareness about the importance of postnatal services and improving accessibility, particularly in rural areas, are required. In addition, Gozamen woreda health office and other stakeholders should help and promote rural health extension workers in order to enhance women's knowledge about the importance of postnatal care services utilization.

Author(s): Yoseph Merkeb Alamneh

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