Abstract:
Background: stillbirth which accounts for half of all perinatal mortality is not counted on policy,
program and investment agendas in the Globe.There is a large disparity in the magnitude of
stillbirth between developed and developing countries. The Ethiopian prevalence of stillbirth that
ranges from 19 to 87/1000 live birth is much higher than developed countries estimated
prevalence of 3/1000 live birth. The variation in magnitude of stillbirth emanated from difference
in quality of health. Despite our daily encounter of stillbirth, as far as the knowledge of
investigator is concerned, there is no study conducted in Hiwot Fana Specialized University
Hospital.Therefore, this study will bridge the gap by assessing prevalence of stillbirth and its
associated factors.
Objectives: the main objective of this study is to assess prevalence of stillbirth and associated
factors among women who gave birth in the past two years (January 1, 2016 to December30,
2018) at Hiwot fana specialized University hospital,Harar, Eastern Ethiopia.
Methodology:Hospital based retrospective document review study design conducted among
randomly selected 557 record of delivery.The collected data was entered into Epidata version
4.2.0.0 and then exported into SPSS window version 20 for analysis.Prevalence was presented in
percentage with 95% Confidence Interval. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was done by using
binary logistic regression to assess factors associated with stillbirth. The finding was presented in
Crude Odds Ratio (COR) and Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% Confidence Interval.
Result: The prevalence of stillbirth was 14.5% (95% CI: 11.7%, 17.6%). Low birth weight of
baby (AOR=2.42, 95%CI: 1.23-4.76), prematurity (AOR=2.10, 95%CI: 1.10-4.01), history of
PROM (AOR=2.08, 95%CI: 1.14-3.77), history of APH (AOR=3.33, 95%CI: 1.66-6.67),
obstructed labor (AOR=2.87, 95%CI: 1.48-5.56) and pre-eclampsia (AOR=2.91, 95%CI:
1.28-6.62) were an independently associated with still birth.
xiii
Conclusion and Recommendation:This study revealed thatthe prevalence of still birth in this
study was high. Low birth weight, gestational age at birth (prematurity), history of premature
rupture of membrane, history of antepartum hemorrhage, obstructed labor and pre-eclampsia
were independentlyassociated for still birth.Therefore, much work is needed to reduce still birth
by improving the health status of women, quality of maternity care, quality of antenatal and
intrapartum care including referral systems.
