The Contribution of Mother Coordinators Towards Maternal Health Service Utilization in Rural Pastoralist Community of Afar Regional State, Ethiopia

Introduction: In Ethiopia, access to health care facilities in the rural hard-to-reach population is limited. To overcome this situation, in 1990’s community based interventions using mother coordinators was adopted. Objective: To assess the contribution of mother coordinators towards maternal health services in the rural pastoralist community. Methods: A community based comparative cross-sectional study supplemented by qualitative methods was employed in February 16-27/2016 in Zone one and Zone three of Afar National Regional State. A multistage cluster sampling was employed to select the study participants. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. The qualitative data were analyzed by thematic frameworks. Results: A total of 1124 mothers were included in the study. Of these 49.8% were enrolled from AMREF intervention sites (sites with mother coordinators). Thirty three percent and 53.8% of the study subjects in comparison and intervention sites, respectively, heard about ANC checkup. Of the mothers who had danger signs during the pregnancy of the index child, 73.2% from intervention and 89.5% of mothers from comparison sites seek medical care. About 21% and 34.8% of the study subjects in comparison and intervention sites, respectively, attended PNC checkup. Of the study subjects who had attended PNC checkup in the intervention sites, 60.5% heard about PNC from mother coordinators. The chi-square test showed a significant difference in antenatal and postnatal care checkups. Conclusion: This survey showed that mother coordinators can improve maternal health services in pastoralist communities. Therefore, it is important to strengthen the capacity of community health workers. The findings of this survey showed that mother coordinators can improve maternal health services in pastoralist communities. Perhaps the most important of these is through the provision of important messages on maternal health services. Therefore, it is better to strengthen the capacity of mother coordinators on maternal health services in rural (pastoralist) communities.