BACKGROUND

Continuum of care (CoC) is the continuity of care from the beginning of pregnancy to the postnatal period to improve maternal, neonatal, and child health. Dropout from the maternal CoC remains a public health challenge in Ethiopia. There are limited studies on women who dropped out of the CoC. The available studies have focused on the time dimension of the CoC, and there is a paucity of data on the place dimension of the CoC. Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of dropout from the maternal CoC and its associated factors in Debre Berhan town, northeast Ethiopia.

METHODS

A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 842 mothers from September to October 2020. A cluster sampling technique was applied, and data were collected through face-to-face interviews using a structured and pre-tested questionnaire. Data were cleaned and entered into EpiData version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 25 for analysis. Descriptive statistics, and bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to summarize the findings, and a -value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULT

The overall prevalence of dropout from the maternity continuum of care was 69.1% [95% CI (66.0-72.3)]. The prevalence of dropout from ANC, skilled birth attendant, and PNC visits was 45.4, 0.5, and 48.7%, respectively. Rural residents, partners' level of education, monthly income, the timing of the first ANC visit, antenatal counseling about a continuum of care, and the level of satisfaction with the service delivery were significantly associated with ANC dropout. Maternal age and occupation, partners' age, media exposure, parity, the timing of the first ANC visit, the place of ANC visit, and the time spent for an ANC visit were significantly associated with dropout from PNC visits. Husbands' occupation, monthly income, number of alive children, the timing of the first ANC visit, and the time spent for an ANC visit had a statistically significant association with dropout from the maternity CoC.

CONCLUSION

Dropout from the CoC in the study area was high. Socioeconomic development, partner involvement, antenatal counseling, efficient service delivery, and media exposure are vital to improving the high dropout rate from the maternal continuum of care.