Short birth interval and its associated factors among multiparous women in Mieso agro-pastoralist district, Eastern Ethiopia: A community-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundRecently, the concern with birth interval has acquired importance in public health and family planning because of its implication for fertility, maternal, and child health. A short birth interval is associated with adverse perinatal, maternal, and infant outcomes. Moreover, too short birth interval lead to high fertility, which in turn contributes to accelerated population growth and undermines development efforts. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of short birth interval and its associated factors among multiparous women in the Mieso agro-pastoralist district, Oromia region, Eastern Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 to 30 March 2020. The multistage sampling technique was used to select 490 multiparous women. Data were collected by face-to-face interviewer-administered structured questionnaires. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were executed. Model fitness and multicollinearity were checked. Statistically significant associations of outcome and independent variables were declared at a P-value of < 0.05.ResultsThe prevalence of short birth interval was 56% (95% CI: 51.4–60.5) in the study area. Being married under 18 years (AOR = 3.78, 95% CI: 1.97–7.25), having formal education (AOR = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.11–0.47), having a husband with formal education (AOR = 0.46, 95% CI: 0.22–0.99), having awareness about optimum birth interval (AOR = 0.47, 95% CI: 0.24–0.91), having female index child (AOR = 1.78, 95% CI: 1.07–3.84), death of the index child (AOR = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.12–0.92), breastfeeding of the index child <24 months (AOR = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.53–4.41), use of modern contraceptive (AOR = 2.09, 95% CI: 1.12–3.89), and decision-making by a husband alone when to have a child (AOR = 3.86, 95% CI: 2.06–7.21) were significantly associated with short birth interval at a P-value <0.05.ConclusionThe overall prevalence of short birth interval among the study participants was high, as more than half of the women had practiced short birth interval, indicating that the majority of the mother and children in the study area are still at high risk of mortality and morbidity associated with short birth interval. Thus, the current findings suggest that interventions that involve the provision of contraceptives and information on its benefit at points need to be adopted to reach the national and global target of maternal and child mortality reduction attributed to short birth interval.

Determinants of short birth interval among child-bearing age women in the Gedeb Hasasa district of the West Arsi zone, Ethiopia

“…In this study, women with illiterate husbands were four times more likely than those with educated husbands to practice short birth intervals. This finding was consistent with studies (24)(25)(26)(27)(28). This is because educated husbands were more likely to cooperate with their wives in using family planning methods and value the importance of birth spacing.…”

“…This finding was higher than 30.2% in Chad and 27.1% in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ( 22 ), 43.4 and 46% in studies in Ethiopia ( 23 , 24 ), and 28.5% in Iran ( 1 ). It was lower than 56 and 57% of studies in Ethiopia ( 7 , 25 ). The variation observed between this and other studies could be due to the difference in the sample size used, and the operational definition used (this study used <33 months cutoff point to say short birth interval, while some previous studies used <24 cutoff point).…”

“…Women who breastfed for 7–12 months and 13–23 months had 3.2 and 2.5 times more likely to have a short birth interval compared with those who breastfed for more than 24 months. This finding was supported by the following studies ( 5 – 7 , 15 , 23 , 25 , 29 – 31 ), which revealed that the chance of a short birth interval was higher among women who breastfed for less than 24 months. This could be due to the contraceptive property of breastfeeding ( 32 ).…”

“…A woman whose previous child was alive was 80% less likely to have a short birth interval than a woman whose previous child died. This finding was supported by the following studies (25,27,28,(33)(34)(35), which revealed that mothers whose index child died were more likely to have a short birth interval than their counterparts. This could be due to the parent's wish to replace a deceased kid as quickly as possible.…”

“…Women who had a previous male child were 37% less likely to have a short birth interval than those who had a female child. This finding was supported by the following studies (6,15,23,25,30,31,33), which revealed that women who had a previous female child were more likely to practice the short birth interval. This may be due to the preference of having a male child if their previous child was female.…”