Current Status, and Correlates of Abortion among Rural Women of Gonji Kollela District, Northwest Ethiopia

Background: Evidences indicate that unsafe abortion is one of the most important causes of maternal mortality in Ethiopia. Ethiopia strives to curb maternal mortality. Hence, current data on abortion, and its correlates are required. Objective: To assess the prevalence and associated factors of abortion among women of reproductive age (15 - 49 years) in rural kebeles of Gonji Kolela District. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 611 women in six rural kebeles of Gonji Kolela District, Northwest Ethiopia. A structured pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographic and obstetric histories. The data were checked for completeness and cross-checked for accuracy and consistency. Result: The overall prevalence of abortion was 12% (10.9% spontaneous and 1.1% induced). Of these, 12.3% of them had experienced abortion more than once. Most of abortion took place at home, no medical care. The most important predictor of abortion was educational status. Those women whose educational attainment was primary and above were 2.4 times more likely to experience abortion than those who were not able to read and write (AOR [95%CI] = 2.4 [1.13 - 5.10]). Most women attributed abortion to work overload. Conclusion: Abortion is high among rural women. Recommendation: Mechanism should be devised to educate the community about care to pregnant women. Why abortion is high among women who have visited school warrants further research.