Aberash Beyene Derribow

Objectives: The evidence revealed that underweight is a major public health concern affecting school-aged children in low and middle-income countries, including Ethiopia. Underweight affects children aged 6-10 years, growth and development, which leads to poor physical, cognitive, and social performance. Thus, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of underweight among children aged 6-10 years old in urban and rural areas of Central Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 541 children from January 2 to May 2, 2023. Participants were selected using simple random sampling. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and anthropometric measurements. Children’s nutritional status was assessed using weight-for-age z-scores calculated with WHO AnthroPlus software. Factors associated with underweight were identified using binary logistic regression analysis. Statistical significance was declared at p < 0.05, and associations were reported with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: In this study, 501 children were enrolled, yielding a response rate of 92.6%. Underweight was more common in rural areas than in urban areas, with prevalence rates of 24.9% (95% CI: 21.2, 26.3) and 17.5% (95% CI: 14.0, 19.0), respectively. Among urban children, maternal age at first birth (AOR = 4.4; 95% CI: 1.63, 12.2), handwashing after latrine use (AOR = 0.16; 95% CI: 0.12, 0.46), use of treated drinking water (AOR = 0.20; 95% CI: 0.18, 0.51), and family planning use (AOR = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.10, 0.47) were determinants of underweight. In contrast, among rural children, maternal age at first birth (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.34, 8.91), no antenatal care (ANC) follow-up (AOR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.27, 6.53), diarrhea in the previous month (AOR = 2.8; 95% CI: 1.63, 9.35), dietary diversity (AOR = 6.0; 95% CI: 2.79, 13.2), and a history of illness in the preceding two weeks (AOR = 3.4; 95% CI: 1.91, 7.23) were identified as determinants of underweight. Conclusion: Underweight was more prevalent among rural children (24.9%) than among urban children (17.5%), highlighting the need for context-specific nutritional interventions. Interventions addressing the identified factors should be strengthened to improve the nutritional status of school-age children in both rural and urban settings.

Background and Aims: Puerperal sepsis persists as an important global public health concern. It contributes substantially to death among mothers, notably in resource‐constrained countries like Ethiopia, posing a significant challenge to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite advances in the accessibility of healthcare, a significant gap exists between knowledge, attitude, and practices, and these issues have received limited literature evidence in Ethiopia, particularly in study settings. Hence, this research focuses on assessing knowledge, attitudes, and self‐care practices toward the prevention of puerperal sepsis and factors of self‐care practices. Methods: A community‐based survey was conducted among 419 postpartum women residing in peri‐urban areas of Dessie from May 1 to June 30, 2025. Participants were recruited through a systematic random sampling technique that was employed. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS version 26. The magnitude of the association was estimated using adjusted odds ratios (AORs) at a 95% confidence interval. Results: In the present study, the overall prevalence of good knowledge was 198 (47.4%) (95% CI: 44.2, 50.5), favorable attitudes were 183 (43.7%) (95% CI: 42.1, 45.1), and good self‐care practice was 179 (42.7%) (95% CI: 38.0, 47.0). Secondary education (AOR = 1.93; 95% CI: 1.10, 3.40), diploma and above (AOR= 2.32; 95% CI: 1.19, 4.49), antenatal contact (AOR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.05, 2.38), women's knowledge (AOR=1.55; 95% CI: 1.02, 2.36), and women's attitudes (AOR=2.30; 95% CI: 1.32, 5.25) were significant factors of the self‐care practice. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of good knowledge, favorable attitudes, and good self‐care practices for puerperal sepsis prevention was low. Maternal educational status, antenatal care contact, women's knowledge, and women's attitudes were significant factors of the self‐care practice. Improving women's education, enhancing antenatal care contact coverage, and fostering knowledge on puerperal sepsis are recommended.

Background: Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy (NVP) is a condition characterized by nausea with or without vomiting that occurs during pregnancy. It ranges from mild morning sickness to the most severe form and affects women with significant morbidity and socioeconomic impacts. Despite this, NVP is less frequently studied in community-based populations with low-income settings than expected. Thus, this study aimed to assess the burden of NVP and its associated factors among pregnant women in Eastern Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from July 1 to 15, 2021, among randomly selected pregnant women from the ongoing Kersa Health and Demographic Surveillance System. A structured, validated, interviewer-administered questionnaire containing the PUQE score was used. Data were entered into Epi-Data 4.6 and exported to SPSS 25 for analysis. Descriptive statistics and bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed. Finally, a p-value < 0.05 in the multivariable regression was considered as a cut-off for statistically significant association. Results: Out of 502 recruited women, 495 (98.6%) were included in the study. The prevalence of NVP in pregnancy was 70.3% (95% CI 66.5, 74.3). NVP was more likely among primigravida (AOR: 5.57; 95% CI: 2.57, 12.05), multigravida (AOR: 3.58; 95% CI: 2.08, 6.14), women with a family history of NVP (AOR: 3.23; 95% CI: 1.96, 5.43), and women with no exercise before pregnancy (AOR: 6.20; 95% CI: 3.53, 10.87), whereas women with planned pregnancies were less likely to experience NVP (AOR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.30, 0.84). Conclusions: The study indicated that 70.3% of pregnant women in eastern Ethiopia experienced NVP. Gravidity, family history of NVP, exercise before pregnancy, and unplanned pregnancy were significantly associated with NVP. Further longitudinal studies are recommended to establish temporal and causal relationships.

Aim: This study aimed to assess self-care practices for puerperal sepsis prevention and their determinants among postpartum women in Halaba Town, Central Ethiopia. Background: Self-care is the ability to maintain health, prevent disease, and manage illness with or without the support of healthcare personnel. Current evidence indicates a high burden of puerperal sepsis in East Africa, including Ethiopia. However, evidence on self-care practices for the prevention of puerperal sepsis and their determinants in the study setting remains limited. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among postpartum women in Halaba Town from February 1 to March 30, 2025. Data were collected through face-to-face, interviewer-administered questionnaires. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify determinants of self-care practices; statistical significance was set at a p-value of less than 0.05. Findings: In the present study, 413 study participants were interviewed, resulting in a response rate of 98.3%. The prevalence of good self-care practice was 43.8% (95% CI: 39.1%–48.5%). Women’s occupation (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.01; 95% CI: 1.23–3.57), educational attainment (AOR = 2.30; 95% CI: 1.46–7.93), antenatal care (ANC) contact (AOR = 2.73; 95% CI: 1.65–4.71), and women’s knowledge (AOR = 3.30; 95% CI: 2.32–10.42) were determinants of self-care practices for puerperal sepsis prevention. Conclusion: The findings revealed that more than half of postpartum women had poor self-care practices for the prevention of puerperal sepsis. Hence, strengthening ANC contact, targeting women with low educational status and unemployed women, and improving women’s knowledge may help to enhance awareness and prevention of puerperal sepsis.

Background: Evidence indicates that birth preparedness and complication readiness practice remain a significant problem and is not well practiced in many low-income countries, including those in East Africa. Although birth preparedness and complication readiness is practiced at low levels in most developing settings, existing literature suggests that cultural birth preparedness practices in Central Ethiopia remain underexplored, with limited empirical evidence documenting their nature and influence on maternal health outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed to assess cultural birth preparedness practices and associated factors in Central Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study with a mixed approach was conducted from February 15 to March 16, 2023. A total of 634 mothers who gave birth within the last 6 weeks were selected by a systematic random sampling technique. Quantitative data were collected via pretested questionnaires and analyzed using bivariate and multivariable logistic regression. Variables with a p < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. For the qualitative data, five focus group discussions and 35 in-depth interviews were conducted to explore community cultural birth preparedness practices. Both inductive and deductive thematic analysis were employed in analyzing the qualitative data. Results: A total of 627 rural mothers from Gurage Zone were enrolled, with a response rate of 98.9%. The overall cultural birth preparedness was 84.2% (95% confidence interval: 79.8–89.3). A family size of five or more (adjusted odds ratio = 2.5; 95% confidence interval: 1.81–8.63), a birth interval of 2 or more years (adjusted odds ratio = 3.06; 95% confidence interval: 2.21–9.37), and multiparous (adjusted odds ratio = 2.32; 95% confidence interval: 1.06–10.75) were factors associated with cultural birth preparedness practices. In qualitative findings, material birth preparation, peer support group (networks), financial preparedness, engagement with traditional birth attendants, and spiritual practices were factors influencing the cultural birth preparedness practices. Conclusion: In this study, 84.2% of mothers practiced cultural birth preparedness. Family size, birth interval, and multiparity were associated with cultural birth preparedness practices. In addition, material, financial, peer, and spiritual supports further influenced these practices. These findings indicated that incorporating culturally acceptable birth-preparedness components into maternal health programs can strengthen community engagement, improve birth readiness, and reduce maternal complications.

Background: Undernutrition is a major issue among pregnant women, leading to substantial morbidity and mortality. However, the evidence revealed that there is limited evidence in Ethiopia, particularly in the study setting. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the magnitude of undernutrition and associated factors among pregnant mothers attending antenatal care in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was employed among 401 systematically selected pregnant mothers who attended antenatal care from January to February 2021. A pretested, structured questionnaire, laboratory investigations, and anthropometric measurements were used for data collection. Data were entered into EpiData 3.1 and exported into SPSS version 26 software for analysis. Both bi-variable and multivariable logistic regressions were performed. Variables with a P -value <.05 at a 95% confidence interval were considered statistically significant. Results: In this study, the magnitude of undernutrition among pregnant women was 17.71% (95%CI: 14.0, 21.7). Lowest dietary diversity (AOR = 2.96; 95%CI: 1.20, 7.30), medical illness (AOR = 4.79; 95%CI: 1.20, 19.03), household food insecurity (AOR = 6.71; 95%CI: 2.80, 16.07), and intestinal parasite (AOR = 10.36, 95%CI: 4.37, 24.56) were factors associated with undernutrition. Conclusion: The study highlights that undernutrition among pregnant women remains a significant public health concern, emphasizing the need for targeted nutritional interventions during antenatal care. Thus, strengthening and enhancing early intervening modifiable factors of maternal undernutrition may help to improve both maternal health and pregnancy outcomes.

Background: Women’s sexual and reproductive rights are crucial for achieving gender equality and promoting women’s rights. Husbands’ knowledge and involvement are key in helping women practice their sexual and reproductive health rights. Across East Africa, there are limited studies about husbands’ knowledge of their partner’s reproductive rights and their associated factors. Hence, this study aimed to determine husbands’ knowledge of their partners’ reproductive health rights. Objective: To assess husbands’ knowledge of their partners’ reproductive rights and associated factors in Gurage Zone, Central Ethiopia, 2023. Design: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 632 husbands in Wolkite town from March to April, 2023. Methods: Multi-stage stratified sampling, along with systematic random sampling techniques, was employed to select study participants. A structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire was utilized to gather the data, and then SPSS version 26 was employed for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were performed to identify variables associated with the husband’s knowledge of his partner’s reproductive rights using the binary logistic regression model. Statistical significance was declared at a p -value <0.05. Results: The overall good knowledge of partners’ reproductive health rights was found to be 47.8% (95% confidence interval (CI): 43.8, 51.8). Age of the husbands 25–35 years (adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 2.7; 95% CI: 1.10, 6.6), below primary educational status (AOR: 2.4; 95% CI: 1.3, 4.3), primary educational status (AOR: 5.98; 95% CI: 3.10, 11.4), secondary educational status (AOR: 2.1; 95% CI: 1.01, 4.3), above secondary education status (AOR: 8.0; 95% CI: 4.3, 15.2), discussion with a partner (AOR: 3.2; 95% CI: 2.0, 5.2), and vehicle as a means of transport (AOR: 3.3; 95% CI: 2.2, 4.9) were statistically significant for good husbands’ knowledge of partners reproductive health rights. Conclusion: These findings indicate that more than half (52.2%) of the study participants had a weak understanding of their partners’ reproductive rights. So, counseling and education should be offered to husbands to enhance their knowledge of reproductive rights.

Background: Antenatal ultrasound scanning is a fundamental component of antenatal care across the globe. It is of significant public health importance because it enables early detection of fetal abnormalities, monitors fetal growth and maternal health, informs timely medical interventions, and supports strategies to reduce maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. Despite its clinical importance, there are limited studies on the use of antenatal ultrasound in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Objective: This study is aimed at assessing the antenatal ultrasound utilization and associated factors among postpartum mothers in Durame Town public health institutions, Central Ethiopia, 2025. Methods: A facility‐based cross‐sectional study was conducted on 379 postpartum mothers attending postpartum care from September 10 to November 10, 2025, in Durame Town public health institutions. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select study participants. Data were collected using structured and pretested questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS Version 26. Factors associated with antenatal ultrasound utilization among postpartum mothers were assessed using binary logistic regressions. The strength of the association of dependent and independent variables was presented as crude and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) at a 95% confidence interval. The level of significance was declared at a p value of less than 0.05 in multivariable logistic regression. Results: Based on the present study, the proportion of antenatal ultrasound utilization was 249 (65.7%) (95% CI: 60.9–70.5); 46.2% of mothers had early antenatal ultrasound utilization, done before they were 24 weeks. Factors associated with antenatal ultrasound utilization were living in urban residence (AOR = 3.25; 95% CI: 1.55–5.65), previous delivery with a congenital malformation (AOR = 2.906; 95% CI: 1.222–6.91), and mothers′ knowledge on antenatal ultrasound utilization (AOR = 3.132; 95% CI: 1.425–6.88). Conclusion and Recommendation: Based on the present study, the proportion of antenatal ultrasound utilization was lower than the WHO and FIGO recommendations. Significant factors of antenatal ultrasound utilization were residence, women′s knowledge, and congenital malformation. Therefore, healthcare providers better to enhance awareness and education among pregnant women regarding the benefits of antenatal ultrasound services, whereas policymakers and health facility administrators better to improve service accessibility and availability to increase antenatal ultrasound utilization, especially in rural and underserved areas, and pay special attention to mothers with prior adverse pregnancy outcomes or congenital malformations.

Background: Existing evidence indicates an increasing burden of puerperal sepsis in sub-Saharan Africa. Across the world, due to a lack of self-care practice and less attention to puerperal sepsis, postpartum women are exposed to major disorders and life-threatening conditions, leading to a lower quality of life. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the knowledge of puerperal sepsis and self-care practices related to the prevention of puerperal sepsis. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 postpartum women in Gurage zone public hospitals from July to August 2024. A systematic sampling technique was employed to get the representative sample. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were done to identify factors associated with outcome variables; a p -value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: In this study, the response rate was 98.8%. The overall good knowledge and self-care practice were found to be 40.8% (95% confidence interval (CI): 36, 46) and 29.3% (95% CI: 25, 34), respectively. Educational status (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.10, 2.85 and AOR = 2.1; 95% CI: 1.64, 5.43), occupation (AOR = 2.01; 95% CI: 1.2, 3.4), and antenatal care (ANC) contact (AOR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.23, 2.97) were associated with knowledge of puerperal sepsis. Multiparous (AOR = 1.2; 95% CI: 1.04, 3.14), ANC contact (AOR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.15, 2.81), and knowledge (AOR = 4.3; 95% CI: 2.14, 9.31) were factors associated with the self-care practice of puerperal sepsis prevention. Conclusions: This finding showed that 70.7% of postpartum women lacked good self-care practices of puerperal sepsis prevention. Hence, counseling and enhancing their knowledge of self-care practices should be provided to women to increase their awareness regarding puerperal sepsis prevention and self-care.

Background: The minor disorders of pregnancy are a series of commonly experienced disorders like nausea and vomiting, frequency of urination, heartburn, constipation, back pain, leg cramps, disturbance of sleep, and varicosities that mostly affect women during pregnancy. Across the world, due to a lack of self-management practice and less attention to minor disorders of pregnancy, pregnant women are exposed to major disorders of pregnancy, which have a negative impact on quality of life, and pregnancy outcomes. Most previous studies gave attention to the knowledge of minor pregnancy disorders and limited self-management practices of minor pregnancy disorders. Objective: To assess the self-management practice of minor pregnancy disorders and associated factors among pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic at Tulu Bolo General Hospital, Southwest Shewa, Ethiopia, 2022. Methods: An institutional-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from August 1 to September 30, 2022. Among 403, pregnant women were selected using a systematic random sampling technique. A structured and interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data were entered in Epi Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS window version 26 for analysis. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were done to identify variables associated with the self-management practice of minor pregnancy disorder in the binary logistic regression model. A statistical significance was declared at P -value < .05. Finally, tables, graphs, and narration were used to present the data. Results: A 397 study participants were included with a response rate of 98.5%. This study revealed that 29.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 24%, 34%) of women had good self-management practices for minor pregnancy disorders. The age of the pregnant women (AOR = 4.4; 95% CI: 1.64, 11.60), household wealth status (AOR = 3.6; 95% CI: 1.68, 7.97), women's education status (AOR = 5.8; 95% CI: 2.16, 16.03) and (AOR = 4.11; 95% CI: 1.30, 12.97), women's occupation (AOR = 2.44; 95% CI: 1.09, 5.45), and knowledge on minor pregnancy disorders (AOR = 2.06; 95% CI: 1.12, 3.79) were identified as statistically significant factors. Conclusions and recommendations: These findings showed that 70.7% of pregnant women were found to have had a lack of good self-management practices for minor pregnancy disorders. Hence, counseling and enhancing their knowledge of self-management should be provided to pregnant women to enhance their awareness regarding self-management practices of minor pregnancy disorders.