INFANT MORTALITY IN THE RURAL SIDAMA ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA: EXAMINING THE CONTRIBUTION OF KEY PREGNANCY AND POSTNATAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES
Abstract Objectives: This study is aimed at examining the contribution of selected pregnancy and postnatal health care services to Infant Mortality (IM) in Southern Ethiopia. Method: Data were collected from 10 rural villages of the Sidama Zone, Southern Ethiopia, using a structured interview schedule. The 1,094 eligible women respondents were selected using a combination of simple random and multi-stage sampling techniques. The main outcome variable of the study (IM) was measured by reported infant deaths during the twelve months preceding the survey, and was estimated at 9.6% or 96 infant deaths per 1,000 births. Pregnancy and health care variables were used as the main explanatory variables along with other household and individual characteristics. Results: The predicted probabilities, using three models of logistic regression analysis, have shown that four pregnancy and postnatal health care variables (antenatal care, immunisation, exclusive breast feeding and wan