Traditional Practice Affecting Maternal Health in Pastoralist Community of afar Region, Ethiopia: A Facility-Based Cross-sectional Study

Every day, at least 830 women die around the world as a result of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, with the majority of the deaths occurring in the developing countries. Traditional practices throughout pregnancy and childbirth are one of the causative reasons for this maternal death. This study aimed to assess traditional practices that affect maternal health and its associated factors among women of childbearing age.

A facility-based cross-sectional study design was conducted on 308 participants using systematic sampling method. The study was done from 17 May to 17 June 2018, at Aysaita primary hospital, Afar region, Northeast Ethiopia. The data was collected by a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were entered into SPSS version 20 for analysis. X2 test with a p-value of less than 0.05 was used to declare the significance of the association with the independent and outcome variable.

The study findings showed that 101 women (32.8%) practiced nutritional taboo during pregnancy. Also, 53(17.2%) and 56(18.2%) women practiced abdominal massage during pregnancy and delivery, respectively. Among included study participants, 54(17.5%) washed their babies immediately after birth. There was an association between educational status (p=0.041) and parity (p=0.003) with nutritional taboo. Additionally, an association was seen between parity (p=<0.001) and education (p=<0.001) with abdominal massage and home delivery.

Traditional practices in the study area were relatively high. Therefore, health education of the mother and promoting formal female education are crucial to the reduction or avoidance of these cultural malpractices.