Assessment of Knowledge and Factors Affecting Utilization of Postnatal Care in Fiche Town, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Back ground: Mothers and their newborns are vulnerable to illnesses and deaths during the postnatal period. More than half a million women each year die of causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. The majority of deaths occur in less developed countries. Utilization of postnatal care (PNC) service in Ethiopia is low due to various factors. These problems significantly hold back the goal of decreasing maternal and child mortality a descriptive cross sectional study was carried out in Fiche town from a total of 431 women who had delivered in previous one year was participated in the study. Study populations were selected from different age group from (15-45) using simple random sampling technique. Out of 431 mothers 330(77%) heard about PNC but the rest 101(23%) mothers did not heard about it. From the total mothers who heard about PNC 36% heard from health extension workers during home to home visit while, 6% heard from friends. Among the Total respondent 321 (74.5%) of them went to health institution with in 6 week of delivery. Out of 431 mothers, 229 (53%) of them went to health institution within 6 week after delivery for child immunization. Distance from health facility <5km (AOR=3.01, 95% CI (1.12-5.14)), mother whose age is above 19 yrs (AOR=2.3 95% CI (1.8-4.9)), mothers who attend grade 9-12 (AOR=4 95% CI (2.1-6.9)), and cultural reason (AOR=3.2 95% CI (1.5-4.7)) are significantly associated with postnatal care