Pre-term Birth and Associated Factors among Mothers Who Gave Birth in Shashemene Town Public Health Facilities West Arsi Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract Background Premature birth is the leading cause of death in children all over the world. An estimated 15 million babies born too early and one million children die as a result of preterm birth complications. Many survivors are disabled for the rest of their lives, where the greatest burden falls in developing countries and Ethiopia is one. There is limited information about the preterm birth and this study intended to assess the magnitude of preterm birth and associated factors among mothers who gave birth in Shashemene Town Public Health Facilities.Methods Institution based, cross-sectional study was conducted from February 1–30, 2022. We used purposive sampling for the facility depending on the number of delivery report and systematic random sampling to select 325 mothers who gave births. Data were collected using structure questionnaires for interview administered and check list for the chart review. The collected data were checked for completeness, cleaned, coded and entered in to Epi info version 7 and exported to SPSS version 23 for further analysis. Both descriptive and inferential statistics used for analysis followed by text, tables and graphs report.Results Data were collected from 325 respondents giving 100% response rate. The magnitude of preterm birth was found to be 7.1% (6.38, 7.82). On multivariable logistic regression model, being mothers’ age 35–44 years, 0.08, (0.03, 0.24), having no history of preterm labor 0.06 (0.02–0.2), no Obstetric complications 0.08 (0.02, 0.32), having no history of low birth weight 0.05(0.02, 0.17) were less likely to have preterm birth.Conclusion The prevalence of preterm birth was relatively low among mothers with no obstetric complications and being late reproductive age groups. Health education on late pregnancy and quality maternity care provision is recommended.