Prevalence and associated factors of home delivery in Eastern Africa: Further analysis of data from the recent Demographic and Health Survey data

Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the magnitude of home delivery and its associated factors in East Africa using data from the Demographic and Health Survey. Methods: We pooled data from the Demographic and Health Survey of the 11 East African countries and included a total weighted sample of 126,107 women in the study. The generalized linear mixed model was fitted to identify factors associated with home delivery. Variables with adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval, and p value< 0.05 in the final generalized linear mixed model were reported to declare significantly associated factors with home delivery. Result: The weighted prevalence of home delivery was 23.68% (95% confidence interval: [23.45, 23.92]) among women in East African countries. Home delivery was highest in Ethiopia (72.5%) whereas, it was lowest in Mozambique (2.8%). In generalized linear mixed model, respondent's age group, marital status, educational status, place of residence, living country, wealth index, media exposure, and number of children ever born were shown significant association with the home delivery in the East African countries, Conclusion: Home delivery varied between countries in the East African zone. Home delivery was significantly increased among women aged 20-34 years, higher number of ever born children, rural residence, never married, or formerly married participants. On the contrary, home delivery decreased with higher educational level, media exposure, and higher wealth index. Wide-range interventions to reduce home delivery should focus on addressing inequities associated with maternal education, family wealth, increased access to the media, and narrowing the gap between rural and urban areas, poor and rich families, and married and unmarried mothers.