Trends and determinants of utilization of MHC services in Ethiopia

Worldwide women die each year from complication arising from pregnancy, and a high proportion of this occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia is one of the countries with an unacceptably high maternal mortality of 676/100,000 live births (CSA and ICF International, 2012). One explanation for this poor health outcome is the nonuse of modern health care services by a sizable proportion of women. EDHS report shows 57 % women did not take at least one antenatal care, 90 % delivered without the assistance of health professionals and 52 % did not receive at least two tetanus toxiod injections (CSA and ICF International, 2012). The purpose of this study was to show the current levels, trends and determinants of maternal health care service by women’s demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and estimate the relative importance of family planning program intervention on the level of maternity care usage. The study used EDHS data of 2000, 2005 and 2011. Women aged 15- 49 were selected from Harari region by the criterion that they had at least one live birth in the five years preceding the survey. The level of each service was determined based on the recent EDHS survey.