Open AccessThe effect of antenatal care on perinatal outcomes in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Author(s) -
Kasiye Shiferaw,
Bizatu Mengiste,
Tesfaye Gobena,
Merga Dheresa
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0245003
Subject(s) - medicine , meta analysis , confidence interval , cinahl , medline , publication bias , obstetrics , pregnancy , prenatal care , study heterogeneity , relative risk , randomized controlled trial , pediatrics , population , psychological intervention , environmental health , psychiatry , biology , political science , law , genetics
Background The estimated annual global perinatal and neonatal death is four million. Stillbirths are almost equivalent to neonatal mortality, yet they have not received the same attention. Antenatal care is generally thought to be an effective method of improving pregnancy outcomes, but its effectiveness as a means of reducing perinatal mortality has not been evaluated in Ethiopia. Therefore, we will identify the pooled effect of antenatal care on perinatal outcomes in Ethiopia. Methods Medline, Embase, Cinahl, African journal online and Google Scholar was searched for articles published in English language between January 1990 and May 2020. Two independent assessors selected studies and extracted data from eligible articles. The Risk of Bias Assessment tool for Non-Randomized Studies was used to assess the quality of each included study. Data analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3. Heterogeneity and publication bias were assessed using I 2 test statistical significance and Egger's test for small-study effects respectively. The random effect model was employed, and forest plot was used to present the risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Thirteen out of seventeen included studies revealed antenatal care utilization had a significant association with perinatal outcomes. The pooled risk ratio by the random-effects model for perinatal death was 0.42 (95% CI: 0.34, 0.52); stillbirth 0.34 (95% CI: 0.25, 0.46); early neonatal death 0.85 (95% CI: 0.21. 3.49). Conclusion Women who attended at least one antenatal care visit were more likely to give birth to an alive neonate that survives compared to their counterpart. Therefore, the Ethiopian Ministry of health and other stakeholders should design tailored interventions to increase antenatal care utilization since it has been shown to reduce perinatal mortality.