Intention to Use Maternal Waiting Homes and Related Factors among Pregnant Women in Metu Woreda, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Maternity Waiting Homes are houses built in the healthcare settings that lodge pregnant women in their term state of pregnancy to  prevent labor and delivery-related complication. This study aimed to estimate the extent of pregnant women’s intention to use Maternal Waiting  Homes and identify its associated factors in Metu Woreda, Western Ethiopia.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 1-30, 2018. We used a systematic sampling method to select the  study participants and Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with the intention of the women to use Maternal  Waiting Homes.

Results: A total of (97%) of respondents’ questionnaires were found complete and analyzed for this study. Almost half (48.8%) of  the pregnant women who participated in the study were planned to use Maternal Waiting Homes in their prospective delivery. Based on  multivariate logistic regression analysis; being illiterate and/or less educated in their educational status, having a history of using Maternal Waiting  homes, and receiving a number of times antenatal care services were found statistically significantly associated with intention of the women to use Maternal Waiting Homes.

Conclusion: It is trivial that more than half of the pregnant women who participated in the study were unintended to use Maternal Waiting  Homes. Educational status, a number of times attending antenatal care services and experience of using Maternal Waiting Homes were found  statistically significantly associated with women’s intention to use Maternal Waiting Homes.