Completion of the maternal continuity of care and associated factors among women who gave birth in the last 6 months in Kena District, southern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study, 2023.

Background: The maternity continuum of care includes attending at least four antenatal care (ANC) visits, delivering in a health facility, and receiving postnatal care. However, in many developing nations, including Ethiopia, completion of this continuum is low, contributing to high maternal mortality. So far, no studies have assessed this issue in the study area.

Objective: To assess the completion of maternity continuum of care and associated factors among women who gave birth in the last 6 months in Kena district, southern, Ethiopia, 2023.

Design: Cross-sectional study using quantitative data collection method.

Methods: The study was conducted among 592 women in southern Ethiopia from April to June 2023. A study participants were selected by a simple random sampling technique. Data were collected using a structured, pretested, interviewer-administered questionnaire. Then, data were entered into EpiData 3.1 and analyzed using statistical package for social science software (SPSS version 26). Logistic regression was used to identify factors related to the maternity continuum of care, with statistical significance set at  < 0.05.

Results: The mean age of the enrolled women was 28.78 ± 4.6 years. Of these, 11.8% (95% confidence interval (CI): 9%-14%) of women completed the entire maternity continuum care. Women with secondary education and above (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 5, 95% CI: 2.5-11), autonomy in healthcare decision-making (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3-4.6), having information on maternal health (AOR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3-4.6) Early initiation of ANC (AOR = 4, 95% CI: 2.27-7.1) and birth preparedness (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI: 1.5-5) were significantly associated with completion.

Conclusions: Completion of the maternity continuum of care in study area is very low. Targeted interventions should promote women's autonomy in healthcare decision-making, early ANC initiation, and birth preparedness to improve outcomes.