Person-Centered Maternity Care and its Associated Factors During Childbirth at Selected Public Hospitals in Eastern Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Arsema Gebreyesus^1*Agumasie Semahegn²Fikru Tebeje³Arega Abebe Lonsako⁴Sagni Girma Fage^5,6

• ¹College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
• ²Department of Population Family and Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana, Accra College of Medicine, East Legon-Adringanor, Ghana
• ³School of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia, College of Health and Medical Sciences, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia
• ⁴School of Nursing, College of Medicine and Health Science, Arba Minch university, Arba Minch, Ethiopia, Arbaminch, Ethiopia
• ⁵School of Nursing and Midwifery, College of health and medical sciences, Haramaya University, Harar, Ethiopia, Harar, Ethiopia
• ⁶Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Leiden, Netherlands

Background: Maternal mortality has remained a major public health issue globally. Although there has been substantial reduction in maternal mortality, Ethiopia is still one of the highest burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Person-centered maternity care plays a key role in ending preventable maternal mortality. Nevertheless, little is known about the status of person-centered maternity care during facility-based childbirth in eastern Ethiopia. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the status of person-centered maternity care and its associated factors during childbirth at selected public hospitals in eastern Ethiopia. We had conducted a facility-based cross-sectional study at selected public hospitals in eastern Ethiopia from May 16 to June 17, 2022. A total of 420 postpartum women, selected by a systematic random sampling technique, were included in the study. We had collected our data by face-to-face interview using a pretested structured questionnaire. We applied linear regression analyses to determine the associations between dependent and independent variables. The association was reported using a β coefficient with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and a p-value ≤ 0.05.The percentage mean score of person-centered maternity care was 68.1 (CI: 59.94, 62.66), SD (±14.1). Women who'd had antenatal care (ANC) follow-up (β = 5.66, 95% CI: 2.79, 8.53) and women who gave birth to a live newborn (β = 7.59, 95% CI: 3.97, 11.20) had a positive association with person-centered maternity care. However, women who had experienced childbirth complications (β = -7.01, 95% CI: -9.88, -4.13) and those who had a hospital stay of more than two days (β = -4.08, 95% CI: -6.79, -1.38) were negatively associated with person-centered maternity care. Our study revealed that the mean person-centered maternity care score of the participants was significantly higher than in previous studies. Women who had antenatal care follow-up, experienced complications during childbirth, gave birth to a live newborn, and had a hospital stay of more than two days were significantly associated with personcentered maternity care. Therefore, we strongly concluded that strengthening antenatal care utilization and early detection and appropriate management of childbirth and pregnancy complications would greatly improve person-centered maternity care.