Compliance with ≥ 8 antenatal care contacts and its associated factors among postnatal women attending public health facilities in Nekemte town, Western Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In 2016, World Health Organization recommended ≥ 8 antenatal care model to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes. Ethiopia adapted and contextualized this model to the local health system; however, there is limited evidence on the level of compliance with the ≥ 8 ANC contact model among Ethiopian women. Therefore, this study aimed to assess compliance with ≥ 8 ANC contacts and associated factors among postnatal women who gave birth in Nekemte town public health facilities. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 414 postnatal women selected through systematic random sampling. Data were collected by structured questionaires and maternal health record reviews covering socio-demographic, obstetric, provider and male partner related factors. Data were entered into the Epidata 3.1 version and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis were used to see the association of the independent with the dependent variable. Variables with p-value < 0.25 were included in multivariable model, and presence and strength of associations were declared by p-value < 0.05 and an adjusted odds ratio with 95% CI. RESULTS: Only 10.4% (95% CI: 7.6, 13.7) of women complied with ≥ 8 ANC contacts. compliance was higher among women with medical diseases [AOR = 5.6, (95% CI: 2.6, 11.9)], good knowledge of danger signs of pregnancy [AOR = 3.4, (95% CI: 1.6, 7.4)], and male partner involvements [AOR = 6.1, (95% CI: 2.4, 15.9)], and lower among multiparous women [AOR = 0.4, (95% CI: 0.2, 0.9)]. CONCLUSION: The compliance with ≥ 8 ANC contact was very low in the study area. Therefore, health care programs should strengthen health education on the importance of ANC contacts compliance, promoting male partner involvement in maternal health, and providing targeted counseling for multiparous women to complete the recommended ANC contacts.