Regional Differences in the Utilizations of Skilled Delivery Care in Ethiopia (MSc Thesis)

The utilization of skilled delivery care services has been stressed due to its effectiveness in reducing maternal & infant mortality. Taking in to account the national and regional interest in improving the utilization of skilled delivery care, determining the factors affecting the use of skilled delivery care is an important step. Several studies have looked at different factors contributing to women’s behavior to seek for skilled delivery care services. Nonetheless, no studies were conducted to assess the regional variation. This study aims to assess differences among regions of Ethiopia in the utilization of skilled delivery care services. In this study, information on the last birth recorded in the last five years preceding of EDHS, 2011 were taken from ever-married women aged 15-49. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were adapted to assess the regional differences in utilizations of skilled delivery care.The results shows that 6,756 ever-married women were included in this study. The mean age of women who were participated in this study was 29.2 years, and their average parity was 4 children per woman. Statistically significant differences were observed in utilizations of skilled delivery care services across regions. The results showed that the effects of socio-demographic factors in utilization of skilled delivery care services differ across regions. Moreover, utilization of ANC has statistically significant contribution in the utilization of skilled delivery care services in all regions except in Tigray and Dire dawa regions. Unequally distributed utilization of skilled deliver care services across regions was observed.It was identified that each region has different socio-demographic factors that influence the use of skilled delivery care. Though the determinants are the same in some regions; the strength of their effect may differ. Utilization of ANC is the most significant predictor which influences the use of skilled