Background. Pelvic floor disorders encompass a broad range of interrelated clinical conditions. Pelvic floor disorders are a common public health concern that affects the lives of millions of adult females. This disorder is expected to be more widespread and probably more severe among women in low-income countries. However, there is limited knowledge about pelvic floor disorders and their determinants among women in Ethiopia. Objective. The purpose of the study was to assess the determinants of pelvic floor disorders among women who visited the gynecology outpatient service at the Wolkite University Specialized Hospital, Wolkite, Ethiopia, in 2021. Methods. A cross-sectional hospital study was conducted on 275 randomly chosen women from June 1 to July 1, 2021. A systematic sampling technique was used when selecting the study subjects. The data were gathered using interviewer administered structured questionnaires. The data collected was entered in version 3.1 of EpiData, and version 23 of Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for the analysis. The variables with a -value <0.25 in the bivariate analysis were considered for a subsequently built multivariable model, and factors with in the final model were statistically significant. The results were presented in an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval. Result. The prevalence of pelvic floor disorder was reported to be 17.8% with 9.3% of the women experiencing urinary incontinence, 8.9% experiencing pelvic organ prolapse, and 5.9% experiencing anal incontinence. Two hundred thirty-two (85.9%) were currently married, while 110 (40.7%) were housewives. Statistically, a significant association was found between age at first pregnancy (AOR = 5.193; 95% CI = 1.905–14.157), many vaginal deliveries (AOR = 15.858; 95% CI = 5.305–47.400), history of episiotomy (AOR = 7.508 95% CI = 1.556–36.224), and menopause (AOR = 7.665; 95% CI = 2.440–24.078) when analyzed with a multivariate logistic regression model. Conclusion. In this study, age at first pregnancy, number of vaginal births, history of episiotomy, and menopause were independently associated with pelvic floor disorder. Therefore, educating women about the year of their first pregnancy, promoting family planning, and advice on the prevention of routine episiotomy by a health professional is recommended.

Background: Childbirth self-efficacy has been identified as a significant indicator of a positive childbirth experience. It is, however, the most neglected aspect of maternal care, and evidence in this regard was lacking in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess perceived childbirth self-efficacy and its associated factors among pregnant women in the Gurage zone, southern Ethiopia. Methods: The current study was conducted from April to May 2022 using a facility-based cross-sectional study design. We used a systematic sampling technique and selected a total of 423 women. To collect the data, we utilized an interviewer-administered questionnaire containing a childbirth self-efficacy inventory scale. Multiple linear regression analysis was employed to discover the factors influencing a woman’s self-efficacy during childbirth. Results: The current study included 423 pregnant women in total. This study revealed that the overall mean score for perceived childbirth self-efficacy was 489.06 (SD = 65.77). Social support (β = 0.214, P< 0.001), psychological well-being (β = 0.254, P< 0.001), education status at the secondary level (β = 0.151, P< 0.001), no fundal pressure (β = 0.11, P = 0.010), and planned pregnancy (β = 0.10, P =0.013) were positively associated with childbirth self-efficacy. Fear of childbirth (β = 0.19, P< 0.001), Primipara women (β = 0.14, P< 0.001), women who had experienced discomfort during vaginal examination (β = 0.10, P = 0.009), and women who experienced the inability to push (β = 0.10, P = 0.013) were negatively associated with childbirth self-efficacy. Conclusion: The overall mean score for the perceived childbirth self-efficacy was high when compared to the previous studies conducted in Australia. Healthcare professionals should create multifaceted strategies to support childbirth self-efficacy, such as relaxation techniques, prenatal psycho-education to reduce childbirth fear, enhance psychological well-being and encourage social support, particularly partner support during pregnancy and childbirth.

Background. The clinical learning environment has been defined as “an interactive network of strengths within the clinical environment that influence the clinical learning outcomes of students. Understanding students’ level of satisfaction with their clinical learning environment is crucial to ensuring the required teaching and learning process. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the level of satisfaction with the CLE among nursing students at the Wolkite University of Ethiopia. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Wolkite University. This study was carried out in March 2022 on 208 student nurses selected by purposive and convenient sampling techniques. This study used the English version of the Clinical Learning Environment and Supervision + Nurse Teacher (CLES + T) evaluation scale. The collected data were cleaned, coded, and entered into Epi data 3.1, and then, statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 26. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with the satisfaction level of nursing students towards CLE. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated, and values < 0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. Results. More than half of the study participants were females, and nearly half (50.5%) of the participants were in year three of the nursing program. The study found that 39.9% (95%CI: 32.2%, 46.6%) of students were satisfied with their CLE. Factors that had a significant association with the satisfaction level of nursing students towards CLE were gender (female students) (AOR = 16.053 (6.397, 40.286)), year of study (4th year) (AOR = 6.296 (2.679, 14.796)), and the type of the hospital in which their last clinical placement was held (at a primary hospital) (AOR = 2.961 (1.122, 7.815)). Conclusion. Effective nursing education programs need to be developed to increase satisfaction with clinical practice and to promote positive emotional regulation in nursing students. Nurse practitioners and managers should be aware of their important role in the professional development of students and their satisfaction with clinical placements.

Anemia is a global public health problem that affects pregnant women. The most common cause of anemia is iron deficiency which is extremely common in developing countries. World health organization reported that 36.5% of pregnant women are anemic globally. In Ethiopia, 27.08% of women of the reproductive age group are anemic. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the magnitude and factors associated with iron supplementation during pregnancy in the southern and eastern regions of Ethiopia. The data used in this analysis were extracted from Mini Demographic and Health Survey 2019. The survey was conducted in 9 regional states and two city administrations. The data used in the analysis were extracted from individual women datasets, and 1780 study participants were included in this study. The logistic regression analysis including bivariate and multivariable logistic regression at a 95% confidence interval and a p-value less than 0.05 was used. The finding of the study shows that iron supplementation during pregnancy in Southern and Eastern parts of Ethiopia was 50.06%. Among those who received iron, only about 20% took it for 90 days and more during their pregnancy. Iron supplementation among the pregnant women was affected by secondary education [AOR = 2.20, 95%CI (1.325, 3.638)], residing in urban [AOR = 1.75, 95%CI (1.192, 2.574)], having media at home [AOR = 1.41, 95%CI (1.022, 1.946)], having antenatal care follow up [AOR = 9.27, 95%CI (4.727, 18.169)], having 4 and more ANC follow up [AOR = 2.01, 95%CI (1.468,2.760], having antenatal care follow up at government health institutions [AOR = 3.40, 95%CI (1.934, 5.982)], and giving birth at governmental health institutions [AOR = 1.70, 95%CI (1.236, 2.336)]. Only one in two pregnant women was supplemented with iron during their recent pregnancy. The supplementation was affected by women's education, place of residence, presence of media at home, antenatal care follow-up, the number of antenatal care follow up, antenatal care follows up at governmental health institutions, and giving birth at the governmental health institution. The availability and accessibility of maternal care services and their functionality in providing maternal care services improve the supplementation.

Background: Existing evidence indicates an increasing burden of puerperal sepsis in sub-Saharan Africa. Across the world, due to a lack of self-care practice and less attention to puerperal sepsis, postpartum women are exposed to major disorders and life-threatening conditions, leading to a lower quality of life. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the knowledge of puerperal sepsis and self-care practices related to the prevention of puerperal sepsis. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 postpartum women in Gurage zone public hospitals from July to August 2024. A systematic sampling technique was employed to get the representative sample. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were done to identify factors associated with outcome variables; a p -value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Result: In this study, the response rate was 98.8%. The overall good knowledge and self-care practice were found to be 40.8% (95% confidence interval (CI): 36, 46) and 29.3% (95% CI: 25, 34), respectively. Educational status (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.13; 95% CI: 1.10, 2.85 and AOR = 2.1; 95% CI: 1.64, 5.43), occupation (AOR = 2.01; 95% CI: 1.2, 3.4), and antenatal care (ANC) contact (AOR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.23, 2.97) were associated with knowledge of puerperal sepsis. Multiparous (AOR = 1.2; 95% CI: 1.04, 3.14), ANC contact (AOR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.15, 2.81), and knowledge (AOR = 4.3; 95% CI: 2.14, 9.31) were factors associated with the self-care practice of puerperal sepsis prevention. Conclusions: This finding showed that 70.7% of postpartum women lacked good self-care practices of puerperal sepsis prevention. Hence, counseling and enhancing their knowledge of self-care practices should be provided to women to increase their awareness regarding puerperal sepsis prevention and self-care.

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is relatively common healthcare issue due to its high prevalence, various adverse effects, and challenges for the healthcare system. Women in developing nations are at a higher risk of experiencing this condition. Although POP and its risk factors are more common in low-resource settings, women in these settings often choose not to seek medical attention. Evidence of these women’s health-seeking behavior and its determinants is lacking in Ethiopia; particularly in the study area, no study was reported. The aim of this study was to asses determinants of healthcare-seeking behavior among women with symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse in the Gurage Zone in 2023. From March 1 to March 30, 2023, we conducted a community-based cross-sectional study in the Gurage Zone, utilizing a multi-stage systematic random sampling method to recruit participants. We collected data through structured questionnaires via face-to-face interviews and analyzed it using EpiData version 3.1 and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25. Logistic regression was employed to examine the relationship between independent variables and healthcare-seeking behavior among women experiencing pelvic organ prolapse symptoms. We incorporated variables with a p-value < 0.25 from the bivariate analysis into the multivariable model, identifying those with a p-value < 0.05 as statistically significant in the final analysis. We assessed the goodness of fit using the Hosmer and Lemeshow test. Results are presented as adjusted odds ratios with a 95% confidence interval. Out of 796 respondents, 248 (31.2%, 95% CI: 27.9, 34.7) of the women had reported symptoms of POP. The study showed that 73.4% (95% CI: [67.7–80.2%]) of women with symptomatic POP did not seek care. The factors associated with not seeking care included being a rural resident (AOR = 5.246; 95% CI [1.824, 13.282]), a lack of social support (AOR = 4.462; 95% CI [1.157, 6.692]), low income (AOR = 2.802; 95% CI [1.132, 7.634]), and fear of disclosure (AOR = 2.400; 95% CI [1.126, 6.261]). Around three quarters of women with symptoms of POP did not seek care. Factors such as residency, low income, lack of support, and fear of disclosure are significantly associated with the decision to seek care for POP symptoms. To address these challenges, it is crucial to implement targeted interventions aimed at improving healthcare access for rural populations, informing policymakers to consider implementing subsidized healthcare services, particularly for vulnerable populations, educational programs aimed at raising involvement of families, encouraging women to disclose their health issues and seek care are recommended by healthcare professionals and other concerned bodies.