Abstract:
Maternal morbidity refers to any health condition complicating pregnancy and
childbirth that has a negative impact on the woman's wellbeing. Despite improvements in
maternal mortality and morbidity, approximately 830 women die as a result of pregnancy or
childbirth-related complications globally each day. Although, the concept of maternal morbidity
is emerging analogous to maternal near miss, there is a paucity of evidence on its magnitude and
factors associated with it particularly in the study area.
Objective: To determine the magnitude of maternal morbidity and associated factors among
mothers who came for childbirth at public hospitals of East Arsi Zone, Southeastern Ethiopia
from July 1- August 30/2023.
Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 660
mothers who gave birth at public hospitals. Data was collected using a pre-tested structured
interviewer administered questionnaire supplemented with review of medical records. Data was
entered using Epi-Data 3.1 software and analyzed using SPSS 24. Association was described
using adjusted odds ratio along with 95% CI and statistical significance was declared at p-value
< 0.05.
Result: In this study, the magnitude of maternal morbidity was 59.2% with 95% CI (55%-63%).
Factors such as, gravidity (AOR: 2.06, 95% CI: 1.15-3.70), having history of stillbirth (AOR:
2.04, CI: 1.03-4.05), having history of abortion (AOR: 2.17, 95% CI:1.23-3.91), history of
complication in previous pregnancy (AOR: 7.97, CI: 4.14-15.4), women who gave birth by
cesarean section for current pregnancy (AOR: 2.92, CI: 1.59-5.37), birth preparedness plan
(AOR: 2.64, CI: 1.379-5.068), ANC follow up (AOR: 7.28, CI: 5.01-11.4) and women with first
delay (AOR: 3.78, CI: 1.768-8.075) were independent predictors of maternal morbidity.
Conclusions and recommendations: According to this study, nearly three out of every five
women developed maternal morbidity in this study area. Ensuring a continuum of care from
antepartum to intrapartum; strengthening ANC and attention to mothers with bad obstetric
history, might have a contribution to minimize maternal morbidity cases
