Background: Maternal death is the most extreme consequence of poor maternal health. More than 30 million women in developing regions suffer from serious diseases and disabilities due to inadequate care during pregnancy and delivery. Access to proper medical attention and hygienic conditions during delivery can reduce the risk of complications and infections that may lead to death or serious illness for the mother, baby, or both. In Ethiopia, the high maternal mortality rate with delivery by unskilled birth attendants shows low utilization of maternal health services.
Objective: This study was aimed to assess factors determining the choice of childbirth place among women of childbearing age in Jimma Arjo District.
Method A cross-sectional study design was conducted in Jimma Arjo District East Wollega Zone, Ethiopia, from March 20 to April 20, 2018. Multistage sampling technique was used to select a total sample of 506 participants. Data were collected using structured questionnaires to interview women of childbearing age. It was entered into Epi-Info and was exported to SPSS software version 20 for analysis. Data was checked for its completeness, cleaned, entered and analyzed accordingly. Bivariate and Multivariable data analysis was used to examine the association between dependent and independent variables.
Result: A total of 506 women participated in this study, giving a response rate of 97.8%. This study has investigated that home delivery was found to be 200(39.5%) whereas institutional delivery was 306(60.5%) in the study area. Factors found to be statistically associated with choice of institutional delivery at p<0.05 were; history of obstetric difficulties (AOR=6, 95% CI= (2.08, 17.60)), women educational status(AOR = 4.4, 95% CI= (1.47, 13.42)), husband educational status (AOR=4, 95% CI= (1.43, 11.60)), having 2-3 ANC Visits (AOR=4, 95%CI= (1.95, 8.52)), and accessing vehicle transportation (AOR = 2.8, 95% CI= (1.23, 6.46)).
Conclusion: Preferring health facility as birth place in this study seems relatively better compared to other studies. It’s shown that attending secondary and more educational level in both mothers’ and their husbands’, history of obstetric difficulties, history of ANC attendance, having 2-3 ANC visits, and accessing facilty nearby have influenced mothers to prefer health institution as childbirth place. Therefore, any programs aimed at increasing choice of institutional delivery should first work on education, ANC follow up and transportation facilities in the study area.