Melaku Hunie Asratie

• Master of Public Health
• University of Gondar

Introduction Vitamin A (VA) cannot be made in the human body and thus foods rich in VA are the only sources of vitamin A for the body. However, ensuring availability in adequate amount of foods rich in VA remains a challenge, mainly in low-income counties including Ethiopia. In addition, children from the poorest and less educated families of same...

Background Bottle feeding should be avoided since it interferes with optimal breastfeeding and it causes diarrheal-related morbidity and mortality. Despite the WHO’s recommendation that children to avoid bottle feeding, it is still widely practiced in developing countries including our country, Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the sp...

Background Contraceptive usage in Ethiopia is significantly influenced by the decision-maker at the household level. Joint decision-making involving both women and their husbands/partners is considered ideal for improving contraceptive uptake among women and for managing health outcomes related to contraceptive side effects. However, there is a lac...

Background Many married women of reproductive age with husbands or partners are less cooperative in using contraceptives, often resulting in unintended pregnancies or secret contraceptive use. This private use of contraceptives causes women to suffer from side effects without proper support, and many women in Ethiopia die due to unintended pregnanc...

Background No doubt providing optimal postnatal care (PNC) prevents both maternal and neonatal deaths, in addition to the prevention of long-term complications. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) had the highest neonatal mortality rate, despite this adequate content of PNC for the newborn is not explored in SSA, therefore, it is important to identify the fac...

Background Knowledge of the ovulatory period enables women in avoiding and engaging in sexual intercourse either to avoid and to have pregnancy as desired. It has been reported that young people have less knowledge of the ovulatory period. There is limited evidence about the spatial variability of knowledge of the ovulatory period among young women...

Background Episiotomy at the time of vaginal birth is a common lifesaving surgical procedure. In Ethiopia, several studies have been conducted concerning the proportion of episiotomy. However, its prevalence varies across these series of studies. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the level of episiotomy practice and i...

Background Early initiation of antenatal care (ANC) is essential for the early detection of pregnancy-related problems and unfavorable pregnancy outcomes. However, a significant number of mothers do not initiate ANC at the recommended time. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the median time of ANC initiation and its predictors among reproduct...

Background Women’s health and welfare, as well as the survival of their children, are adversely affected by high fertility rates in developing countries. The fertility rate in Ethiopia has been high for a long time, with some pockets still showing poor improvement. Thus, the current study is aimed to assess the spatial distribution and its predicto...

Background Neonatal mortality from tetanus can be reduced by 94% when pregnant women receive at least two doses of tetanus toxoid. In Ethiopia, immunization programs are suboptimal despite their importance. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the geographic distribution and associated factors of poor tetanus toxoid (TT) immunization amo...

Introduction Initiation of family planning in the early post-partum period is a strategic move to reduce maternal, neonatal, and child mortality due to the negative consequences of short interbirth interval and the complications of unintended pregnancy. Antenatal care (ANC) is the noteworthy predictor of scaling up early initiation of post-partum f...

Objectives This study aimed to assess the spatial distribution, wealth-related inequality and determinants for delayed initiation of antenatal care (ANC) visits among reproductive-age women in Ethiopia. Design Cross-sectional study design. Setting Ethiopia. Participants A total of 2924 reproductive-age women who had given birth in the 5 years pr...

Background Despite progress in reducing maternal and child mortality, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) still experience an unacceptably high level of the problem. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently recommended pregnant women should have at least eight antenatal care visits (ANC8+) with a trained healthcare provider as a key s...

Background Anaemia is a major global public health problem, considerably affects young women in resource limited countries. The available researches on anaemia focused on children, pregnant women, or all women of reproductive age. However, women's biology and life experiences vary dramatically across 15 to 49 years, putting young women bear the hig...

Background Diarrhea, the second leading cause of child morbidity and mortality worldwide, is responsible for more than 90% of deaths in children under 5 years of age in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The high burden of diarrhea is mainly attributable to the limited access to improved water and sanitation. However, the impacts of improved...

Objective This study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of anaemia among lactating and non-lactating women in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Design Comparative cross-sectional study. Setting LMICs. Participants Reproductive-age women. Primary outcome Anaemia. Methods Data for the study were drawn from the recent 4...

Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of the triple burden of malnutrition among mother-child pairs in low-income and middle-income countries. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Low-income and middle-income countries. Participants: Women and children. Primary outcome: Triple burden of malnutrition (over...

Background Malnutrition is both a significant cause and a result of poverty and deprivation. In developing nations, child malnutrition is still the main public health issue. Severe malnutrition affects every system of the body and leads to medical instability. The assessment of the burden of severe malnutrition is important for ready-to-use therape...

Abstract Introduction There is tremendous regional inequalities and low uptake of modern contraceptives particularly among young women (15–24 years), characterized by high fertility but high unmet need for contraceptives in Ethiopia. Hence, the present study aimed at exploring the spatial distribution and the multi-level determinants of modern cont...

Background: In low-and-middle-income, including Ethiopia, high-risk fertility behavior is a major public health concern. High-risk fertility behavior has an adverse influence on maternal and child health, which hampered efforts to reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the spatial distr...

Introduction Neonatal mortality is pervasive in developing countries like Ethiopia. Though the risk of neonatal mortality is preventable through consolidating simple, low-cost, and less time-consuming essential care, there is a scarcity of evidence about the spatial distribution of newborn care in Ethiopia. Objective The current study aimed to dem...

Introduction Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing and counseling services are routine prenatal care services for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Although the prevalence of HIV infection is high among women, evidence suggests that the uptake of HIV testing during prenatal services in Ethiopia is scarce. Therefore, the ai...

Background Complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of maternal and child deaths and disabilities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Timely and frequent antenatal care prevents these burdens by promoting existing disease treatments, vaccination, iron supplementation, and HIV counseling and testing during...

Abstract Background The period of youth is important for the foundation of healthy and stable relationships, women’s health and well-being. Youth women face a higher risk of experiencing violence than older women. Intimate partner violence (IPV) against youth women is a significant public health concern. Despite paramount negative health consequenc...

Abstract Background Soil-transmitted helminths caused millions of morbidity of preschool age children in sub-Saharan Africa with low socio-economic status and lack of clean water and sanitation. In Ethiopia, nearly half of children are affected by intestinal parasites. Despite this prevalence, deworming medication utilization among preschool age ch...

Background Iron deficiency is one of the most important factors of anemia which is caused by poor iron intake. In addition, children need more iron because of their rapid growth. On the other side, daily intake of iron is also recommended as a standard approach for the treatment and prevention of iron deficiency anemia. In Ethiopia, although more t...

Introduction Handwashing is fundamentally an inexpensive means of reducing the spread of communicable diseases. In developing countries, many people die due to infectious diseases that could be prevented by proper hand hygiene. The recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is a threat to people who are living in resource-limited countries including su...

Background Deworming is one strategy for reducing the burden of anaemia in pregnant women caused by intestinal parasites and it is one of the components of prenatal treatment offered to pregnant women in Ethiopia during antenatal care visits. However, there is limited evidence on the levels of deworming utilization and its determinants in Ethiopia....

Background Despite the commitments of the government to minimize unintended pregnancy, abortion, and unmet need for contraceptives, as per our search of the literature, there is no study on the pooled prevalence and determinants of informed choice of contraceptive methods in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the pooled preva...

Background Early resumption of post-partum sexual intercourse has an adverse outcome on the health of women and indirectly unintended pregnancy might happen and affects both the health of women and the delivered baby. There is limited evidence that shows predictors at the individual and community level from the Ethiopian demographic and health surv...

Back ground Domestic violence during pregnancy is the most devastating but neglected problem in Amhara region. The newly introduced COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control strategies predispose for domestic violence during pregnancy and this in turn the risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Objective To assess the magnitude of domestic violence du...

Background COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is a common practice in developing countries like Ethiopia. Despite there being a rumor from the community that the use of COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is associated with many pregnancy adverse outcomes. However, there is a paucity of empirical evidence on the perception of risk COVID-19 vac...

Background In developing countries, adverse pregnancy outcomes are major public health issues. It is one of the leading causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite the fact that ending prenatal mortality and morbidity is one of the third Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the burden of the problem continues to be a huge concern...

Background Open defecation is the disposal of human faeces in the fields, forests, bushes, and open bodies of water. It is practiced more in sub-Saharan African countries and is considered a sign of underdevelopment. Open defecation facilitates the transmission of pathogens that cause diarrheal diseases which is the second leading contributor to th...

Background Stiffness, or more precisely, a restriction in the range of motion, is a potential complication following any intra- or extra-articular injury. The passive or active range of motion of the physiological joint is an important factor in determining the significance of joint stiffness. The goals of this study were to assess the incidence of...

Background The timing of the resumption of post-partum menses is important for a woman who intends to avoid subsequent unintended pregnancy, and it has key implications on maternal, neonatal, and child health outcomes. Despite this, information is scant about the time to resumption of post-partum menses and predictors in Ethiopia. Therefore, this s...

Background For many pregnant women, pelvic girdle pain caused by pregnancy has an impact on their daily living. Women with lumbo-pelvic pain have moderate to severe discomfort that makes daily activities like getting out of a chair, bending, and walking difficult. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of daily activity restrictions and...

Background Improving the coverage of completion of the maternity continuum of care is the priority area of sub-Saharan African countries to achieve the sustainable development goal. Despite this, information is scant about the pooled prevalence of completion of the maternity continuum of care and its determinants in sub-Saharan African countries. T...

Solid fuels are types of fuel that comprise coal, biomass, charcoal, wood, or straw and are used for cooking, heating, lighting, boiling water, and generating revenue at home. Globally, 3 billion of the world’s poorest people continue to rely on inefficient solid fuels, which produce health-damaging contaminants. In Ethiopia, more than 90% of house...

Background Birth companionship is one of the components of the respectful maternity continuum of care recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Women's desire for birth companionship needs to be given attention during the antenatal care period to make them ready during labor and delivery. There is a dearth of study about the status of wom...

Background In Ethiopia women with their husbands/partners are the decision-makers for contraceptives non-use suffered either due to the consequence of unintended pregnancy or due to the indirect impact of the secret use of contraceptives from their husbands/partners. Despite this challenge, there is a dearth of evidence about the magnitude of husba...

Background: Labor companionship is a human interactive process that provides social support during the childbirth process. Despite it being one component of respectful maternity care (RMC) that is used for quality assurance to achieve the sustainable goal of maternal and neonatal mortality reduction, there is limited evidence about the current stat...

Background

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has a great impact on the disruption of maternal health-care services. Family planning is one component of maternal health-care service that needs attention during this devastating time. Compromise on family planning services and the preventive strategies of COVID-19 might increase the burden of unintended pregnancy, b...

Background: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has infected over one million individuals with almost 50,000 deaths worldwide. COVID-19 is currently a global health threat and a public health emergency. Therefore, accurate and up-to-date information regarding prevention and control methods is essential. Objective: The aim of the...

Introduction. Pregnancy at an advanced maternal age is defined as pregnancy at 35 years or older. Today, women postpone pregnancy due to different socioeconomic and personal reasons. However, there was limited evidence on fetal adverse outcomes' association with pregnancy at an advanced maternal age in Ethiopia and particularly in the study area. i...

Background Labor companionship is a human interactive process that provides social support during the childbirth process. Despite it being one component of respectful maternity care (RMC) that is used for quality assurance to achieve the sustainable goal of maternal and neonatal mortality reduction, there is limited evidence about the current statu...

Background COVID-19 pandemic has a great impact on the disruption of maternal health-care services. Family planning is one component of maternal health-care service that needs attention during this devastating time. Compromise on family planning services and the preventive strategies of COVID-19 might increase the burden of unintended pregnancy, bu...

Background The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has infected over one million individuals with almost 50,000 deaths worldwide. COVID-19 is currently a global health threat and a public health emergency. Therefore, accurate and up-to-date information regarding prevention and control methods is essential. Objective The aim of the s...

Introduction. Pregnancy at an advanced maternal age is defined as pregnancy at 35 years or older. Today, women postpone pregnancy due to different socioeconomic and personal reasons. However, there was limited evidence on fetal adverse outcomes’ association with pregnancy at an advanced maternal age in Ethiopia and particularly in the study area. T...

Background Maternity continuum of care is a model of integrated components of maternal health service from pregnancy to the post-partum period to improve maternal, neonatal and child health. In Ethiopia, the magnitude of antenatal care, skilled delivery, and post-natal care have shown improvement. However, there is limited evidence of the woman who...