article · Journal of Pregnancy
Preterm birth remains a primary cause of neonatal death and poses significant emotional and financial challenges for families and communities. An institutional cross-sectional study evaluated the prevalence of singleton preterm births and its contributing factors at Shire Suhul General Hospital in Northern Ethiopia between January and March 2018. Among 325 postnatal mothers surveyed through interviews and medical record reviews, 16.9 per cent experienced a preterm delivery, exceeding the reported national average. Several maternal and neonatal factors showed significant links to early delivery. Specifically, smoking or drinking alcohol during pregnancy, maternal haemoglobin levels below 11 grams per decilitre, a prior abortion, and a history of delivering low-birth-weight infants all increased risk. Furthermore, visible physical congenital anomalies in newborns strongly correlated with preterm birth. Addressing these risks requires robust preconception care, risk screening, and consistent iron and folic acid supplementation.
Preterm births carry high risks of neonatal complications and long-term health challenges. Identifying clear maternal and clinical risk factors helps healthcare providers and public health organisations design targeted prenatal interventions. Strategies such as improving iron and folic acid supplementation and promoting preconception counselling can directly improve maternal health and decrease newborn mortality rates in regional healthcare settings.
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Background. Preterm birth is the leading cause of neonatal mortality and significant health consequences to the newborn, families, and communities and tens of emotional and economic costs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of singleton preterm birth and associated factors in Shire Suhul General Hospital, Northern Ethiopia. Methods. Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among systematically selected 325 postnatal mothers in Shire Suhul General Hospital, Northern Ethiopia, from January to March 2018. The data were collected through both face-to-face interview and chart review by using pretested semistructured questionnaires. SPSS version 20 was employed to enter and analyze the data. Both bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were run to identify factors associated with singleton preterm birth at the level of P values ≤ 0.25 and <0.05 for each model, respectively. Result. The magnitude of singleton preterm birth in Suhul Hospital was 16.9%. Smoking cigarette/drinking alcohol during pregnancy <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">[</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math>AOR=3.61: CI 95%; 1.59-8.23<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">]</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math>, previous abortion <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">[</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math>AOR=2.37: CI 95%; 1.15-4.88<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">]</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math>, hemoglobin level < 11gm/dl <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">[</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math>AOR=2.44: CI 95%; 1.14-5.22<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">]</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math>, visible physical neonatal congenital anomaly <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">[</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math>AOR=10.42: CI 95%; 1.66-65.23<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">]</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math> , and history of giving low birth weight baby <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">[</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math>AOR: 2.78 CI 95%; 1.39-5.55<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M10"><mml:mrow><mml:mo stretchy="false">]</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math> were the factors statistically associated with singleton preterm birth. Conclusion. The magnitude of preterm birth in this study was higher than the average prevalence of preterm birth reported in Ethiopia. Smoking cigarette/drinking alcohol during pregnancy, mothers who had previous abortion, low maternal hemoglobin level, presence of visible physical congenital anomalies of newborn baby, and history of bearing low birth weight baby were found to have statistically significant association with singleton preterm birth. Supplement of daily iron with folic acid (folic acid ideally before pregnancy) for all pregnant mothers with good adherence monitoring and giving attention to preconceptional health care service to avoid any cigarette smoking/alcohol drinking and risk detection were set as recommendations.
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DOI: 10.1155/2019/4629101
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