Online Program

290373
Health care status of women and their young children in tigray, Ethiopia


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Kyung-Sook Bang, RN, PhD, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, 03080, Korea, Republic of (South)
Insook Lee, RN, PhD, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, 110-799, Korea, Republic of (South)
Young Sook Park, RN, PhD, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, 110-799, Korea, Republic of (South)
Sun-Mi Chae, RN, PhD, CPNP, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, 110-799, Korea, Republic of (South)
Juyoun Yu, RN, MSN, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, 110-799, Korea, Republic of (South)
Hyunju Kang, RN, MPH, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, 110-799, Korea, Republic of (South)
Sangjun Oh, RN, BSN, BA, Med, College of Nursing, Seoul National University, Seoul, 110-799, Korea, Republic of (South)
Purpose: Ethiopia is one of the countries with high neonatal and maternal mortality rate. The purpose of this study was to explore the health care status related to pregnancy, childbirth for women and young children in Tigray, Ethiopia. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional descriptive research, which was conducted for a baseline survey of maternal child health project in Ethiopia supported by the Korea government. The participants were 1,216 women aged 15 to 49 years dwelling in Tigray, Ethiopia. Stratified random sampling was performed. A structured interview questionnaire was used. Pre-trained interviewers collected data through home-visits from October to December in 2012. Results: Mean age of the women was 32.6 years, and average number of children was 3.9. Only 31.3% of women are using contraceptives. Among 472 women with history of childbirth within the last 2 years, 83.5% received antenatal care. Most of them (83.5%) gave birth at home, and only 30% received assistance from health care workers. For post-natal care, 61.1% received care from health extension workers who work at health post. About 95% of mothers breast-fed their babies. Regarding the child health care, 91.4% had vaccination cards, and 70.6% of children received Vitamin A supplements while only 6.4% received iron supplements. About a half of mothers provided their children with vermicides. Recommendations: Our results suggest a well-designed family planning education and childbirth at health institution for the safety of mother and child health should be encouraged in Ethiopia. Also, nutritional status for children should be further assessed.

Learning Areas:

Public health or related nursing

Learning Objectives:
Describe health care status of women and their young children in Ethiopia, one of the underdeveloped countries.

Keyword(s): Maternal and Child Health, Vulnerable Populations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a principal investigator of MCH project in Ethiopia supported by Korea government funding, and also I have worked as a nursing professor more than fifteen years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.