Birth preparedness among the youth attending antenatal clinic at Mulago National Referral Hospital

Abstract

Background Pregnancy complications are among the leading causes of death for young women. The causes of maternal mortality in young women are similar to those of older women and include hypertensive disorders, hemorrhage, abortion and sepsis though the risk of maternal death is more in young women than older women. Globally maternal mortality ratio has remained high, and Africa accounts for a big chunk ofmortality. In Uganda maternal mortality ratio (MMR)is 336/ 100,000 live births. Birth preparedness is a comprehensive strategy to improve the use of skilled providers at birth, the key intervention to decrease maternal mortality Despite the fact that birth preparedness is essential for further improvement of maternal and child health, little is known about its current levels and its associated factors in Ugandan youths in general and Mulago hospital, Kampala in particular. Objective This study aimed at determining the prevalence and the factors associated with birth preparedness among the youths attending the antenatal clinic at Mulago national referral Hospital,. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant youths (15-24 years). Youths were considered prepared when they had any three of the components below:- Knowledge of danger signs, plan for where to give birth, plan for a birth attendant; plan for transportation; plan for saving money, plan for a blood donor and plan for a person to remain at home during the time of delivery. Data was entered into Epidata3.1 and exported into STATA (13.0) for analysis. Results The prevalence of birth preparedness among the youths was a 69.7% (244/350). It was found out that marital status was strongly associated with birth preparedness (OR: 0.45, 95% CI: 0.25-0.79, P=0.005).. The un married pregnant women were at least 50% less likely to prepare for birth as compared to the married (single, divorced, widowed) It was also found out that gestational age was a significant determinant of birth preparedness. ie it increased with increasing gestational age, hence the higher the gestational age the more prepared the mother was (OR:1.12, 95% CI:1.05-1.19, P=0.001).

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Conclusion More than half of the participants (69.7%) had a birth preparedness plan. Marital status and gestational age were the factors associated with having a birth preparedness plan. In this study the chances of birth prepredness were low at an earlier gestation age and among the unmamried youths. Recommendations There is need to target youths during antenatal care (ANC) when giving health education talks and this should start at the first visit. Special attention should be given to unmarried youths