Abtew Solomon, Mmusi-Phetoe Rose M
Ethiopian Public Health Association, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Department of Public Health, College of Human Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2025 Mar 12;17(1):e1-e12. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v17i1.4718.
The continuum of care (CoC) in maternal and neonatal services among women in Ethiopia was low because of individual and cultural barriers.
This study aims to identify factors that hindered the utilisation of the CoC services.
The study took place in the Assosa Zone of north-western Ethiopia.
A qualitative study using audio-taped individual interviews was conducted. A total of 52 study participants were purposefully recruited from the Assosa Zone. Thematic analysis was employed to identify major themes and categories from the transcripts.
Findings revealed the economic situation of women as the underlying barrier to women accessing and utilising maternal and neonatal CoC services. Presumably, high transport and medical costs and the inability to pay the raised costs were drivers to discontinuity of the CoC of maternal and neonatal services. Other barriers to utilisation of CoC services were found to be workload in the households, secreting pregnancy, traditional beliefs, husbands' attitude and religion, awareness gaps in pregnancy, and maternal and neonatal care. These factors are thus regarded as important barriers to the utilisation of continuity of care in maternal and neonatal services in Ethiopia.
Moreover, economic, cultural and religious factors, maternal awareness and husbands featured as significant barriers to the utilisation of maternal and neonatal CoC services in Ethiopia.Contribution: The findings revealed the economic situation of women as a barrier to the CoC in maternal and neonatal services utilisation, manifesting itself in unaffordable transport and medication user fees.
由于个人和文化障碍，埃塞俄比亚妇女在孕产妇和新生儿服务方面的连续护理（CoC）水平较低。
本研究旨在确定阻碍连续护理服务利用的因素。
该研究在埃塞俄比亚西北部的阿索萨地区进行。
采用录音个人访谈进行定性研究。从阿索萨地区有目的地招募了52名研究参与者。采用主题分析法从访谈记录中确定主要主题和类别。
研究结果表明，妇女的经济状况是其获得和利用孕产妇和新生儿连续护理服务的潜在障碍。据推测，高昂的交通和医疗费用以及无力支付增加的费用是孕产妇和新生儿服务连续护理中断的驱动因素。发现连续护理服务利用的其他障碍包括家庭工作量、隐瞒怀孕、传统观念、丈夫的态度和宗教信仰、孕期认知差距以及孕产妇和新生儿护理。因此，这些因素被视为埃塞俄比亚孕产妇和新生儿服务连续护理利用的重要障碍。
此外，经济、文化和宗教因素、孕产妇认知以及丈夫被认为是埃塞俄比亚孕产妇和新生儿连续护理服务利用的重大障碍。贡献：研究结果表明，妇女的经济状况是孕产妇和新生儿服务连续护理利用的障碍，表现为交通费用和药品使用费过高而无力承担。
