Background Antenatal care is one of the components of the maternal and child continuum of care. Timely booking ANC during pregnancy is of utmost importance to guarantee the best possible health outcomes for women and children. Inappropriate timing of the first ANC booking is associated with poor pregnancy outcomes, including perinatal death, stillbirth, and early neonatal death. According to WHO focused ANC recommendation, every mother should start booking ANC within the first 12 weeks of gestational age. However, in developing countries, including Ethiopia, many pregnant mothers were not booking ANC at the recommended time. Thus, this study aims to assess the time to first ANC booking and its determinants in Ethiopia. Methods A survival analysis was conducted to determine time to first ANC booking among 3917 weighted study subjects. The data were extracted from EDHS 2019 using STATA version 17 software. A Kaplan Meier survivor curve was computed to estimate the time of first ANC booking. A Long-rank test was used to compare the difference in survival curves. Weibull Inverse Gaussian shared frailty model was used to identify significant predictors. On multivariable analysis, variables having a p-value of ≤ 0.05 are considered statistically significant. Results The overall median survival time was four months. The significant determinant of time to first ANC booking are residence (rural [ϕ = 1.111, 95CI: 1.060, 1.164), mother educational level (primary education [ϕ = 0.945, 95CI: 0.915, 0.977], secondary and above educational [ϕ = 0.857, 95CI: 0.819, 0.896]) and wealth index (middle [0.948 (ϕ = 0.948, 95CI: 0.911, 0.986) and rich [ϕ = 0.904, 95CI: 0.865, 0.945]) Conclusion The median time for first ANC booking is 4 month, which is higher than the WHO recommended time. The timing of the first ANC booking in Ethiopia was mainly influenced by the residence of women, mother educational level, and wealth index. It is strongly recommended to expose mothers to educational materials and other awareness-creation campaigns, as well as to support disadvantaged women, such as the uneducated, poor, and those living in rural or remote areas.

BackgroundBeing a mother for the first time is the most significant event in a woman's life. “Age at first birth” refers to a mother's age in years when she gives birth to her first child. The age of first childbirth has physical, economic, and social implications. However, little is known about this issue in Ethiopia. Thus, this study sought to determine the time to first childbirth and its predictors at a national level.MethodsData were extracted from the 2019 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey using STATA version 17 software. A total of 8,885 weighted reproductive-age women (15–49 years) were included in this study. A Kaplan–Meier survivor curve was generated to estimate the time of first childbirth. A log-rank test was used to compare the difference in survival curves. Akaike information criteria and Bayesian information criteria were calculated to select the appropriate survival model for the data. The Weibull accelerated failure time model with no frailty distribution was used to identify significant predictors.ResultsThe overall median survival time to first childbirth was 18 years. The significant predictors of time to first childbirth were the educational level of the mother [primary education (ϕ = 1.036, 95% CI: 1.011, 1.063), secondary and above education (ϕ = 1.154, 95% CI: 1.118, 1.191)], knowledge of any contraceptive method [know at least one (ϕ = 1.051, 95% CI: 1.006, 1.101)], and media exposure (ϕ = 1.048, 95% CI: 1.011, 1.086).ConclusionThe median survival time to first childbirth was 18 years, which is lower than the optimal age for first childbirth (late 20 s and early 30 s). The timing of first childbirth in Ethiopia is mainly influenced by the educational level of women, knowledge of contraceptive methods, and exposure to media. Thus, exposing women to educational materials and other awareness-creation campaigns regarding the consequences of early first childbirth and strategies to improve women's knowledge of contraceptive methods is highly recommended.

Background. The first sexual experience is the most significant event in a woman’s life. Early sexual experience has short- and long-term health and behavioral risks. Studying the estimated time for a female to have her first sexual debut is important to reduce its health, demographic, and socioeconomic consequences. Thus, this study is aimed at assessing the time to first sexual experience and its determinants in Ethiopia. Methods. A survival analysis of time to first sexual experience was conducted among 6143 weighted study subjects. The data were extracted from EDHS 2016 using STATA version 16 software. A Kaplan-Meier survival curve was computed to estimate the time of first sexual experience. A log-rank test was used to compare the difference in survival curves. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to identify significant predictors. On multivariable analysis, variables having a p value of ≤ 0.05 are considered statically significant. Results. The overall median survival time was 16 years. The significant determinants of time to first sexual experience are educational level (no education ( AHR = 2.72 , 95% CI: 2.16, 3.39), primary education ( AHR = 2.17 , 95% CI: 1.79, 2.63), and secondary education ( AHR = 1.47 , 95% CI: 1.21, 1.77)) and wealth index (poor ( AHR = 1.15 , 95% CI: 1.00, 1.32)). Conclusion. About 50% of female youths have a sexual experience for the first time before their 16th birthday. The timing of the first sexual experience in Ethiopia was mainly influenced by educational level and wealth index. Universal access to education and poverty reduction should be the area of concern.

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