Labor Companionship in Labor and Delivery at Debremarkos Town Public Health Facilities: Magnitude and Associated Factors

Abstract

Background Labor companionship is a human interactive process that provides social support during the childbirth process. Despite it being one component of respectful maternity care (RMC) that is used for quality assurance to achieve the sustainable goal of maternal and neonatal mortality reduction, there is limited evidence about the current status of birth companionship. The study was aimed to assess labor companion and its associated factors at Debremarkos town public health facilities. Methods An institution-based cross-sectional study design was conducted. The study was conducted at Debremarkos town from February 1/2021 to March 30/2021. From the 559 sample size, 548 women participated in the study. A systematic random sampling technique was used. A pre-tested interviewer-administered questioner was used, data were entered and analyzed with Epi-data version 4.60 and SPSS version 25.0. Bivariable regression was done and variables with p-value </= 0.20 were analyzed with multivariable logistic regression. Variables with p-value </= 0.05 were considered significantly associated with labor companionship. Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness of fit was checked and all multi-collinearity of variables with variance inflation factors (VIF) up to 10 was tolerated. Results A total of 548 participants were involved in the study with a 98.03% response rate. The magnitude of labor companionship was found to be 14.6% (11.7–17.5). Women who had complicated pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=5.53; 95% CI: 3.09–9.92), women's desire for a labor companion (AOR=3.63; 95% CI: 1.51–8.69), being primipara (AOR=3.49; 95% CI: 1.93–6.35), labor followed by female skilled birth attendant (AOR=0.37;95% CI: 0.17–0.82), and women’s perceived busyness of skilled birth attendant (AOR=0.13;95% CI: 0.07–0.23) were significantly associated with labor companionship. Conclusions Labor companionship was found to be low. Giving emphasis on the desire, primipara, complicated pregnancy, sex of skilled birth attendant and women perceived busy skilled birth attendant were suggested for the improvement of labor companionship.

The role and effect of companions during childbirth in Oman

“…In fact, not all hospitals allow the presence of companions, in Thailand, where family members usually were not allowed to be present during intrapartum [ 22 ]. Others like Ethiopia have a low labour companionship, which was found to be 14.6% [ 23 ]. In a recent study in Burkina Faso, where 77 women, companions, and health workers were interviewed about their beliefs, opinions, and policies about labour companions, they found that hospitals were not allowing companions during labour and birth [ 24 ].…”

A quasi-experimental study to assess the effectiveness of birth companion-based care during first stage of labour, on labour outcome and emotional status among parturient women in selected hospital of Gurugram, Haryana

“…The presence of a chosen birth support companion also resulted in an increase in labouring women's self-efficacy. In conclusion, a negative birth experience is frequently caused by the lack of a labour partner (Asratie et al, 2021). The function of the birth companion includes all non-clinical elements of care.…”

Desire for Birth Companionship Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in Debremarkos City, Northwest Ethiopia: Magnitude and Associated Factors

“…Despite all the aforementioned clarities about birth companionship which can be achieved whenever their desire is respected, there is limited evidence that shows the status of women's desires about birth companionship. The different studies have been done about the status of birth companions among postpartum period ( 12 , 30 ), rather the desire of pregnant women about birth companionship was not yet studied in Ethiopia.…”