SynthesisPloS one2021
Short birth spacing and its association with maternal educational status, contraceptive use, and duration of breastfeeding in Ethiopia. A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Magnitude, determinants, and complications of short inter pregnancy intervals among pregnant mothers in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Reproductive health · 2024Pooled it
- Impact of group antenatal care on lactational amenorrhea method awareness and knowledge: A cluster randomized control trial.PloS one · 2025Trial
- Magnitude of short birth intervals and associated factors among reproductive-age women in sub-Saharan Africa: a multilevel modified Poisson regression analysis of recent DHS data (2021-2024).Contraception and reproductive medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Predictors of birth interval among childbearing-age women in East Africa: Weibull gamma shared frailty model.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Geospatial analysis of area-level social and behavioral factors associated with short interpregnancy intervals in North Carolina, U.S.Preventive medicine reports · 2025Article
- Maternal sociodemographic characteristics of short and long interpregnancy intervals in Japan: an analysis using national birth data.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Multinomial multilevel analysis of factors affecting the use of modern contraceptives in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from 2015 to 2023 Demographic Health Survey.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Inter-pregnancy interval and associated factors among parous women in neighboring low-land ecologies of arsi & east shoa zone, southeast Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study.Contraception and reproductive medicine · 2025Article
- Association Between Short Birth Interval and Immediate Adverse Perinatal Outcomes Among Women Delivering at a Tertiary Hospital in South-Western Uganda.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
- Article
- The Magnitude and Determinants of Suboptimal Child Spacing Practices Among Women of Childbearing Age in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Associations of Birth Interval With Prevalence of Depression in Postmenopausal Women.Depression and anxiety · 2025Article
- Article
- Article
- Exploring the Influence of Sociocultural Factors on the Non-Utilization of Family Planning amongst Women in Ethiopia's Pastoralist Regions.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- High-risk fertility behaviors and associated factors among married reproductive-age women in sub-Saharan Africa: A multilevel mixed-effect analysis of nationally representative data from 35 countries.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Relationship between reproductive health literacy and components of healthy fertility in women of the reproductive age.Journal of education and health promotion · 2024Article
- Suboptimal birth spacing practice and its predictors among reproductive-age women in Sub-Saharan African countries: a multilevel mixed-effects modeling with robust Poisson regression.Reproductive health · 2023Article
- Investigating the pathways from preconception care to preventing maternal, perinatal and child mortality: A scoping review and causal loop diagram.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundClosely spaced birth increases the risk of adverse maternal and child health outcomes. In Ethiopia, the prevalence of short birth spacing was highly variable across studies. Besides, contraceptive use, educational status, and duration of breastfeeding were frequently mentioned factors affecting short birth spacing. Therefore, this meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of short birth spacing and its association with contraceptive use, educational status, and duration of breastfeeding among reproductive-age women in Ethiopia.
methodsInternational databases: Google Scholar, PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane library, HINARI, and Global Health were searched systematically to identify articles reporting the prevalence of short birth spacing and its association with contraceptive use, educational status, and duration of breastfeeding among reproductive-age women in Ethiopia. The data were analyzed by STATA/SE version-14 statistical software. The random-effect model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of short birth spacing and the log odds ratio was used to determine the association. Moreover, egger's test and I-squared statistics were used to assess publication bias and heterogeneity respectively.
resultsAfter reviewing 511 research articles, a total of nine articles with 5,682 study participants were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of short birth spacing in Ethiopia was 46.9% [95% CI: (34.7, 59.1)]. Significant heterogeneity was observed between studies (I2 = 98.4, p <0.001). Not using contraceptives [OR = 3.87, 95% CI: (2.29, 6.53)] and duration of breastfeeding < 24 months [OR = 16.9, 95%CI: (2.69, 106.47)] had a significant association with short birth spacing.
conclusionsAlthough a minimum inter-pregnancy interval of two years was recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), significant numbers of women still practiced short birth spacing in Ethiopia. Duration of breastfeeding and non-use of contraceptives were factors significantly associated with short birth spacing. So, efforts should be made to improve breastfeeding practice and contraceptive utilization among women in Ethiopia.
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