Utilization of institutional delivery and associated factors among mothers in Hosanna Town, Hadiya Zone, Southern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study.

Background: Institutional delivery is one of the key interventions that have been proven to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. Ethiopia has initiated different efforts to enhance the acceptance of institutional delivery. In spite of this, the number of institutional deliverys is still very low in Ethiopia and varies from region to region. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the utilization of institutional delivery and of factors associated with it among mothers in Hossana Town, Southern Ethiopia.

Methods: This study was a community-based cross-sectional study of mothers who had given birth within 12 months before the study. Data were collected using a pretested questionnaire. During the study period, 403 mothers were selected using the systematic random sampling technique. Data entry was done using EpiData (version 3.1), and data were exported to SPSS (version 24) for analysis. Both bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify the associated factors at 95% CI.

Results: This study revealed that 53.6% of mothers delivered their infants at health facilities. The factors associated with the institutional delivery were primigravidas (AOR = 3.9; 95% CI, 1.4-4.7), the availability of antenatal care (AOR = 3.4; 95%CI, 1.7-7.2), having planned pregnancies (AOR = 3.9; 95%CI, 1.7-9.3) and the involvement of both parents in decision making (AOR = 2.4; 95%CI, 1.4-2.5). However, when only the mother was involved in the decision making regarding the delivery, the figure decreased by 70% (AOR = 0.3; 95%CI, 0.1-0.8).

Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that high numbers of births occur without skilled attendants or are non- institutional delivery. In terms of the factors that are associated with institutional delivery, the study suggests that strengthening sustained provision of education during antenatal care and at community levels are crucial.