Background: Globally, male involvement has been identified as a priority target area to be strengthened in the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. However, there are limited studies on husband involvement in the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess male involvement in the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV and associated factors among males whose wives gave birth in the last six months before the survey in Enebsiesarmider district, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A Community-based cross-sectional study was employed to assess male involvement in the prevention of mother to child transmission of human immunodeficiency virus and associated factors in Enebsiesarmider District, Northwest Ethiopia. The study was conducted from February 10-30, 2018. A total of 525 participants were involved in the study. A stratified cluster sampling method was used to recruit study participants. Data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were entered using the epi Data software and exported to SPPS for analysis. Descriptive statistics including mean, a proportion were used to describe study variables. Multivariable logistic regression was employed to describe variables with the outcome variable.Result: Overall male involvement in PMTCT was found to be 26.1% [95%CI, 22.1-29.5]. Respondents who have attended secondary education and above were more likely get involved in PMTCT than who have no formal education [AOR 2.45, 95%CI,, Respondents who have good knowledge on PMTCT [AOR 2.57, 95%CI, 1.58-4.18], good knowledge on ANC [AOR 2.10, 95%CI, 1.28-3.44], low cultural barriers [AOR 2.20, 95%CI, 1.34-3.63] low health system barriers [AOR 2.40, 95%CI, were variables that significantly increase male involvement in PMTCT practices.(Continued on next page)

Background: Ethiopia has made great strides on under-five and maternal mortality reduction as demonstrated by achieving the millennium development target of child mortality reduction by the start of 2015. According to a recent demographic and health survey report, Ethiopia has a 67 per 1000 under-five mortality rate and a 412 per 100,000 live births maternal mortality ratio. The current trend of maternal and child mortality reduction is not enough to meet sustainable development goal three (SDG3) of maternal and child mortality reduction target which is set to reduce the maternal mortality ratio to below 70/100,000 live births in all countries. This paper aimed to model the effect of scaling up family planning on pregnancies, live births, stillbirths, abortions and maternal mortality in Ethiopia. Methods: We used the Spectrum software package to model the impact of family planning on maternal survival and other maternal health metrics. Spectrum has different modules consisting of demproj module (demographic projection), famplan module (family planning), LiST (life saved tool), and AIM (aids impact model). We used Demproj, Famplan and LiST modules for this particular paper. Baseline national data were taken from findings of the Ethiopian demographic and health survey 2016, and World Bank and World Health Organization country specific reports. Results: Total fertility rate will decline to 2.3 children per women by the year 2030 when contraceptive prevalence is scaled up by 2% annually from 2016 to 2030. As a result of continuous scaling up of contraceptive use, around 3.17 million unintended pregnancies can be averted. Unmet need for family planning will significantly decline to 11.7% by 2030. Ninety-four thousand unsafe abortions could be averted and 1233 additional maternal lives could be saved by the end of 2030 in Ethiopia. Conclusion: Scaling up family planning has shown a significant effect to meet the SDG3 maternal mortality reduction target. A considerable proportion of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions can be averted by scaling up contraceptive prevalence by 2% annually until 2030. Family planning is effective and a less costly intervention to reduce maternal mortality in countries with high fertility; hence, it is highly recommended to rampup all efforts to scale up contraceptive use for improving maternal health status in Ethiopia.

Background Globally, husband attendance of skilled maternal ANC care remains a challenge to safe motherhood. Even though husband attendance in antenatal care is one of the strategies for enhancing reproductive and sexual health in Ethiopia, the magnitude of husband attendance in ANC is not well investigated in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess husband antenatal care attendance and associated factors among husbands whose wives gave birth in the last twelve months prior to the study in Enebsiesarmider district, Northwest Ethiopia.Methods A Community-based cross-sectional study was employed to assess husband antenatal care attendance and associated factors among husbands whose wives gave birth in the last twelve months in Enebsiesarmider district, Northwest Ethiopia. The study was conducted from February 10-March 10, 2018. A total of 402 participants were involved in the study. Multi stage sampling method was used to recruit study participants. Data were collected using structured interviewer administered questionnaire. Data were entered using epi Data software and exported to SPPS for analysis. Descriptive statistics including mean, proportion were used to describe study variables. Binary and multivariable logistic regression was employed to describe variables in relation to the outcome variable.Result: The prevalence of husband antenatal care attendance was found to be 31.8% [95%CI, 27.4-36.3]. Attending secondary education and above [AOR 1.93, 95%CI, 1.14-3.26], good antenatal care knowledge [AOR 3.30, 95%CI, 2.02-5.39] and hadn’t health system barriers [AOR 2.32, 95%CI, 1.35-4.00] were statistically associated with husband antenatal care attendance.Conclusion Husband ANC attendance was found to be low in the study area. Regional health department shall design behavioral change interventions to reducing health system pitfalls towards ANC in the study area, furthermore, enabling all pregnant women to be booked for ANC and providing invitation letter to their husbands in the subsequent ANC visits seems essential to initiate husband ANC attendance.

Introduction Preterm birth, which accounts for 33.1% of neonatal death globally, is the main cause of under-five mortality. A growing number of studies indicate that occupational risk factors during pregnancy are linked to an increased likelihood of poor pregnancy outcomes. The effect of physical occupational risks on preterm birth has received very little attention, and previous reviews have produced inconclusive results. This systematic review aims to update the evidence on the relationship between maternal physical occupational risks and preterm birth. Method and analysis We will search electronic databases including Ovid Medline, Embase, Emcare, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of science to find peer-reviewed studies examining the relationship between six common maternal physical occupational risks (heavy lifting, prolonged standing, heavy physical exertion, long working hours, shift work, and whole-body vibrations) and preterm birth. Articles published in English after 1 January 2000 will be included without geographic restrictions. Two reviewers will screen titles and abstracts independently, and then select full-text articles that meet inclusion criteria. Methodological quality of the included studies will be evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal method. The quality of evidence across each exposure and the outcome of interest will be examined by using the GRADE (Grade of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, Evaluation) method. Accordingly, a high level of evidence will lead to “strong recommendations”. A moderate level of evidence will lead to “practice considerations”. For all evidence levels below moderate, the message will be “not enough evidence from the scientific literature to guide policymakers, clinicians, and patients. If data permits, a meta-analysis will be conducted using Stata Software. In case where meta-analysis is not possible, we will perform a formal narrative synthesis. Discussion and conclusion Evidence suggests that preterm birth is linked to a number of maternal occupational risk factors. This systematic review will update, compile, and critically review the evidence on the effect of maternal physical occupational risk on preterm birth. This systematic review will provide guidance to support decision-makers including maternal and child health services, other health care providers, and government policy agencies. Trial registration PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022357045.

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