Prevalence and Proxy Risk Factors of Pregnancy Wastage in Ethiopia

Background:- Though  pregnancy wastage (PW) through abortion, miscarriage, and stillbirth are an unwanted biological phenomenon, a number of economic and socio-demographic factors have significant role to influence it.

Objective:-To estimate the prevalence of pregnancy loses and identify proxy risk factors in Ethiopia.

Methods: The study used dataset of women from Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS 2005). The survey sample was designed to provide national, urban/rural, and regional representative estimates for key health and demographic indicators.     

Results: A total of 10,623 eligible women in the age group of 15-49 years were included from the national 2005 EDHS, excluding those women who had never sex in this age group. Of these, about 970 (9%) of women had failed to continue their pregnancy either through abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth. Significant regional variation in the prevalence of PW was observed 119(11%) in Addis Ababa, 64(10.6%) in Harari, 155(9.6%) in Amhara, 160(9.5%) in Oromiya, 130(8.6%) in SNNPR, 75(7.5%) in  Tigray, 50(7%) in Benishangul-Gumiz, 39(6.2%) in Gambella and the remaining regions have below 5%. Oromyia  and Addis Ababa resident women were[5.4(2.61-11.33)]and [2.6(1.06-6.54)] times more likely to experience PW compared to Tigrayan women. Those women who had multiple sexual partners in their lifetime were [2.6(1.06-6.54)]times more likely to be exposed for PW compared to single sexual partner. Women within30-34 years were [2.5 (1.27-4.99)] times more likely to face the problem compared within 15-19 years women. Women who had 9 and more children [1.9 (1.29-2.69)] and women who had between 5-8 children were [1.4(1.13-1.82)] times more likely to experience PW than those who had 1-4 children.     

Conclusion: Pregnancy wastage is a major public health concern in Ethiopia.In this study, PW is high in urban settings where better services are available, which demands further investigation. 

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