Mekonnen Birye Dessalegn, Vasilevski Vidanka, Bali Ayele Geleto, Sweet Linda
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research in the Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Teda Health Science College, Gondar, Ethiopia.
Child Care Health Dev. 2025 Sep;51(5):e70151. doi: 10.1111/cch.70151.
Completion of the newborn and infant healthcare practices across the continuum of care, including essential newborn care, exclusive breastfeeding from birth to 6 months of age and immunisation, remains low in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the impact of maternal pregnancy intention on the newborn and infant continuum of care in Ethiopia.
The analysis used data from the Performance Monitoring for Action Ethiopia longitudinal survey. This nationally representative survey was conducted from 2019 to 2021. The impact of maternal pregnancy intention on the newborn and infant continuum of care was assessed using propensity score methods. Essential newborn and infant care practices were examined as outcome variables, with pregnancy intention as the exposure variable. Adjusting for potential covariates, the impact of exposure on outcomes was determined using a logistic regression model with an odds ratio at 95% CI based on the inverse probability of treatment weights.
Women with intended pregnancies had 28% higher odds of early initiation of breastfeeding (AOR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.03-1.59) and 34% higher odds of exclusive breastfeeding from birth to 6 months of age (AOR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.08-1.66) compared with women with unintended pregnancies. Similarly, the odds of full infant immunisation were 39% higher among women with intended pregnancies compared with women with unintended pregnancies (AOR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.03-1.87). However, there was no statistically significant difference in the odds of essential newborn care practices between women with intended and unintended pregnancies (AOR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.53-1.31).
Pregnancy intention significantly impacts the newborn and infant healthcare practices across the continuum of care. Therefore, prioritising interventions for preventing unintended pregnancies by providing family planning services, early identification of women with unintended pregnancies and ensuring they receive appropriate healthcare services is essential.
在埃塞俄比亚，包括基本新生儿护理、从出生到6个月龄的纯母乳喂养以及免疫接种在内的新生儿和婴儿连续护理实践的完成率仍然很低。因此，本研究旨在确定孕产妇怀孕意愿对埃塞俄比亚新生儿和婴儿连续护理的影响。
分析使用了埃塞俄比亚行动绩效监测纵向调查的数据。这项具有全国代表性的调查于2019年至2021年进行。使用倾向评分方法评估孕产妇怀孕意愿对新生儿和婴儿连续护理的影响。将基本新生儿和婴儿护理实践作为结果变量，怀孕意愿作为暴露变量。在调整潜在协变量后，使用基于治疗权重逆概率的逻辑回归模型确定暴露对结果的影响，优势比为95%置信区间。
与意外怀孕的女性相比，有计划怀孕的女性早期开始母乳喂养的几率高28%（调整后优势比[AOR]=1.28，95%置信区间：1.03-1.59），从出生到6个月龄纯母乳喂养的几率高34%（AOR=1.34，95%置信区间：1.08-1.66）。同样，与意外怀孕的女性相比，有计划怀孕的女性进行婴儿全程免疫接种的几率高39%（AOR=1.39，95%置信区间：1.03-1.87）。然而，有计划和意外怀孕的女性在基本新生儿护理实践几率方面没有统计学上的显著差异（AOR=0.83，95%置信区间：0.53-1.31）。
怀孕意愿对连续护理中的新生儿和婴儿医疗保健实践有显著影响。因此，通过提供计划生育服务、早期识别意外怀孕的女性并确保她们获得适当的医疗保健服务，优先采取预防意外怀孕的干预措施至关重要。
