Abstract

Background: Women who do not know pregnancy complications are less likely to have better birth preparedness and complication readiness, and as a result, they usually delay in seeking appropriate obstetric care. Therefore, this research aimed to assess the association between having information on pregnancy complications and institutional delivery in Ethiopia.

Methods: We used the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) data set, which was a cross-sectional survey. About 3003 women delivered in the past 5 years preceding the survey and who knowledge about pregnancy complications at the time of the last ANC visit were our analytical study sample. The samples were selected using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling technique. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between having information on pregnancy complications and institutional delivery. An adjusted odds ratio with a 95 % confidence interval and p-value <0.05 were considered to declare a statistically significant association.

Result: Among the study samples (3003), only 1470 (47.2%) of women who had knowledge about pregnancy complications, and 1812 (60.34 %) of sampled women were delivered at the health institutions. The odds of institutional delivery were higher among women who had knowledge  about pregnancy complications compared to those who did not have [AOR = 1.44, CI = 1.12–1.84].

Conclusion: women who had knowledge about pregnancy complications had higher odds of institutional delivery than those who did not have knowledge. Therefore, the health care provider should provide health education and deep counseling about pregnancy complications at the time of ANC visit to increase utilization of institutional delivery. Additionally, interventions need to target women who do not meet the recommended four ANC visits, the poorest women, those without education, women residing in a rural area, and women whose parity more than two.

Keywords: Knowledge; Pregnancy compilations; Ethiopia