Abstract:
Preterm birth is commonly defined as any birth before 37 weeks completed weeks of gestation.
The complications of preterm birth are the common cause of neonatal deaths and it is responsible for 35% of
neonatal death worldwide. Death due to prematurity was very high in developing countries including Africa.
However, there is no evidence that show the magnitude of preterm and its risk factors at Somaliland. The
geographical distribution and other factors associated with preterm birth vary across different cultures and
socioeconomic statuses within a society; in addition to that the sequels resulted from prematurity is a lifelong
problem that can affect the health and the socioeconomic conditions of the person.
Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess preterm birth and associated factors among motherswho
gave birth in Edna Adan University Hospital and Hargeisa group hospital, Hargeisa, Somaliland from July 1 to
August 30, 2023
Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 507 women who gave birth in
two ofmaternity hospital in Hargeisa; Edna Adan University Hospital and Hargeisa group hospital, Hargeisa,
Somaliland. Systemic random sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Face to face interview
was conducted using pretested structured questionnaire to collect the data. In addition, maternal chart review was
being reviewed. The data was entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and for the purpose of data analysis, I employed
and exported the data to the STATA version 14 software. All covariates that was significant at p-value < 0.25 in
bivariate logistic regression analysis was selected as a candidate for further multivariable logistic regression
analysis. The level of statistical significance was declared at p-value < 0.05.
Result: In this study, the magnitude of preterm birth was 15.58 % (95% CI: 12.2, 18.8%). Factors such as having
ANC visits less than four [AOR=4.4;95%CI:(1.58-12.25)], Urinary tract infection [AOR=1.95;95%CI:(1.2-
3.40)], history of gestational diabetes [AOR=3.31;95%CI:(1.03-10.57)], history of stillbirth
[AOR=3.98;95%CI:(2.05-7.65)], and having anemia [AOR=2.16;95%CI:(1.10-4.24)], and history of pregnancy
induced hypertension [AOR=3.16(1.77-5.65)], multiparty [AOR= 0.28;95%CI:(0.125-0.622)] were associated
with preterm birth.
Conclusions and Recommendations: Themagnitude of pretermbirth in thisstudywas higherthan in moststudies.
There was a significant association between preterm birth and the number of antenatal care visits, UTIs, history
of gestational diabetes, stillbirths, and pregnancy induced hypertension, Anemia and multiparty. Therefore, a
multifaceted effort must be made to reduce the number of preterm births.
