Skilled Delivery Care Utilization among Currently Married Women of Reproductive Age in Hossana, Southwest Ethiopia

Background: Child birth is natural and continuous process in which many women are at risk for developing complication during child birth. The skilled care for all women during childbirth is a key approach for saving women’s lives and ensuring the best chance of delivering a healthy infant. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from January 1-31, 2014. Data were collected from a sample of 420 women in the town using structured interview questionnaire. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted. Odds ratio with 95% CI was estimated to identify predictors of skilled delivery care utilization. Statistical level of significance was declared at p < 0.05. Results: The study revealed that 65.5 % of deliveries were assisted by skilled health professional during last child birth. About, 92% of the women attended at least one antenatal care for the recent pregnancy. Among the antenatal care users, 54.4% had less than four antenatal visits. Husband educational level, pregnancy intenion, awareness on danger signs of pregnancy durning pregnancy, antenatal care attendance and frequency were significantly associated(p<0.05) with with skilled delivery care utilization. Conclusions: The utilization of skilled delivery care services is relatively higher in the study area but inadequate in general. Some Sociodemographic, socio-economic and obstetric factors influence the utilization of skilled delivery care. Expanding educational opportunities, strengthening promotion of safe motherhood, and awareness program with the focus on obstetric danger signs of pregnancy, family planning and child spacing are recommended to improve the skilled delivery care utilization.