Readiness, access, and use of facility childbirth care in Ethiopia: results from nationally representative linked household and health facility surveys

Background Facility readiness is an important prerequisite for providing safe, effective childbirth care. This study assesses the readiness of health facilities in Ethiopia to provide childbirth services, describes variations in geographic access to service-ready facilities, and evaluates how facility readiness relates to childbirth service usage with a lens on equity. Methods The study used cross-sectional data from a nationally representative sample of households in Ethiopia linked with data from health facilities serving the same areas. We explored variation in childbirth service readiness across facilities and classified facilities as “service-ready” if they had a readiness score of 0.75 or higher on a 0-1 scale. We used logistic regression modeling to examine the odds of residing within 10 kilometers of a service-ready facility by socioeconomic and geographic characteristics, and the odds of a facility delivery given the readiness of nearby facilities. Results Childbirth service readiness was generally high for hospitals (median score: 0.92) with minimal variation (interquartile range, IQR: 0.88 to 0.96). Health centers and clinics displayed lower and more variable readiness (median: 0.75, IQR: 0.66 to 0.84). In both crude and adjusted regression analyses, odds of residing within 10 kilometers of a service-ready facility were significantly greater for women with higher education levels, greater wealth, and urban residence. We found the adjusted odds of using facility childbirth services were 1.23 (95% CI: 1.03, 1.48) times greater for each 0.10-unit increase in the readiness level of nearby facilities. Conclusions Access to childbirth care is not equal for Ethiopian women. Those living in rural areas and the poor must travel farther to reach facility childbirth services, and the nearest facilities serving these women were less prepared to provide quality care. This may contribute to lower service utilization by such disadvantaged groups of women.