Introduction: Early neonatal death, which occurs during the prenatal period, is defined as the death of a newborn between 0 and 7 days after birth. It is one of the major public health problems in several developing countries. This study aimed to determine the early neonatal mortality rate and identify determinants of early neonatal mortality in Somalia region of Ethiopia. Methods: The data used for this study were drawn from the 2019 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey (2019 EMDHS) data. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify the determinants of early neonatal mortality. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% CI was used to examine the association of factors with early neonatal mortality. Results: A total of 637 live births were included in this study. The early neonatal mortality rate in the study was 44 (95% CI: 31, 65) deaths per 1000 live births. Male babies (AOR: 1.628; 95% CI: 1.152–4.895), babies delivered at home (AOR: 2.288; 95% CI: 1.194–6.593), and babies born from uneducated mothers (AOR: 2.130; 95% CI: 1.744–6.100) were at increased risk of death in the first 7 days of life after birth. Contrarily, decreased risk of death of babies in the first 7 days of life after birth was associated with urban residence (AOR: 0.669; 95% CI: 0.033–0.721) and singleton (AOR: 0.345; 95% CI: 0.070–0.609). Conclusion: The early neonatal mortality rate in the region was high. The study revealed that sex of child, place of residence, birth type, mother’s educational level, and place of delivery were the determinants of the death of babies in the first 7 days of life after birth. Hence, providing health education to uneducated mothers and enhancing institutional delivery is recommended to minimize the early neonatal mortality rate in the region.

Introduction: Infant mortality is one of the commonest health-related indicators used to assess the health status of the community. Children born in Sub-Saharan Africa are at highest risk of infancy death in the world. Ethiopia, in Sub-Saharan Africa, is a country with high infant mortality. Oromia region is among the regions with high infant mortality rate in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to identify determinants of infant mortality in Oromia region, Ethiopia. Methods: The source of data for this study was 2019 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey. Multivariable logistic regression model was employed to identify the determinants the infant mortality. An adjusted odds ratio (OR) with a 95% CI was used examine the determinants of infant mortality. Results: A total of 719 live births born 5 years preceding the survey were included. The infant mortality rate in the study area was 54 deaths per 1000 live births. The risk of dying in infancy was lower for females [adjusted OR (AOR): 0.518, 95% CI: 0.284, 0.945], health deliveries (AOR: 0.429, 95% CI: 0.235, 0.783), infants born to mothers attended ANC during pregnancy (AOR: 0.603, 95% CI: 0.489, 0.744), infants from families with wealth indices of medium (AOR: 0.715, 95% CI: 0.580, 0.882) and rich (AOR: 0.638, 95% CI: 0.425, 0.958) compared with the respective reference categories while it was higher for infants of multiple births (AOR: 2.241, 95% CI: 1.768, 2.841) compared with singletons. Conclusions: Infant mortality rate in the study area, Oromia region, is higher than the national figure. The study found that sex of child, birth type, antenatal care (ANC), place of delivery and wealth index of household were significant determinants of infant mortality. Therefore, concerned bodies should make awareness creation to mothers regarding ANC and encourage them to have ANC follow-up during pregnancy and deliver at health institution to improve the infant survival in the region.

Background: Antenatal care (ANC) reduces maternal and newborn mortalities and makes it easier to find infections early and prevent them from progressing. This study aimed to identify factors affecting ANC utilization in Ethiopia via the count regression model. Methods: The data for the study was drawn from the 2019 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey dataset. Count regression models, such as Poisson, Negative Binomial (NB), Zero-Inflated Poisson (ZIP), and Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) models, were used to determine the factors influencing ANC utilization. Results: A total of 3962 women were included in the study. Only about 42% of women used the WHO-recommended number of ANC of a minimum of four visits. The ZIP model was outperforming to fit the data as compared to other count regression models. Rural residence (IRR=0.8832, 95% CI: 0.8264–0.9440), being resident of the Somalia region (IRR=0.4762, 95% CI: 0.3919–0.5785), SNNPR (IRR=0.8716, 95% CI: 0.7913–0.9600), and Gambela Region (IRR=0.7830, 95% CI: 0.7063–0.8680), being Muslim (IRR=0.9384, 95% CI: 0.8876–0.9921) decrease the ANC utilization. Contrarily, Addis Ababa residence (IRR=1.1171, 95% CI: 1.0181–1.2259), primary education (IRR=1.1278, 95% CI: 1.0728–1.1855), secondary and higher education (IRR=1.2357, 95% CI: 1.1550–1.3220), middle wealth index (IRR=1.0855, 95% CI: 1.0095–1.1671) and rich wealth index (IRR=1.0941, 95% CI: 1.0152–1.1790) increase the ANC utilization. Conclusion: The ZIP model best fitted the data compared to others. The study revealed that being poor, rural resident, uneducated, Somalia region resident, SNNPR resident, Gambela region resident, and Muslim were factors associated with lower ANC utilization. Thus, health education is needed to be given for mothers with no education. In addition, building a strong awareness-creation program regarding ANC is required for rural residents so as to improve the level of ANC utilization in Ethiopia.