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

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.