Pregnancy-related complications and associated factors among women attending antenatal care at a specialised maternal and child health national referral hospital, in Uganda

Background Although pregnancy and child birth-related complications remain a global public health concern, little is known about their prevalence and associated factors. Our study assessed pregnancy-related complications and associated factors among women attending antenatal care at a specialized maternal and child health national referral hospital in Uganda. Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted among 285 pregnant women. Data were collected using the KoboCollect mobile application, and analysed using STATA 14. A modified poisson regression model was used for inferential statistics. Findings Out of the 285 women, 27.4% (78/285) had pregnancy-related complications. The most reported complications were anaemia, 10.9% (31/285); eclampsia, 8.1% (23/285); and still births, 4.9% (14/285). Having a higher gravidity of 4-6 (APR= 0.32, 95% CI: 0.17-0.57) and of more than 7 (APR= 0.32, 95% CI: 0.14-0.73) was negatively associated with pregnancy-related complications. Factors positively associated with pregnancy-related complications included; late first ANC (APR=1.85, 95% CI: 1.17-2.92), parity of ≥ 3 (APR= 3.69, 95% CI: 1.50-9.08) and induced abortion prior to current pregnancy (APR= 1.64, 95% CI: (1.08-2.47). Conclusion The prevalence of pregnancy-related complications was very high. Anaemia, eclampsia and still births were the most prevalent. A late first ANC, gravidity higher than 4, parity higher than 3, and history of an induced abortion prior to the current pregnancy were associated with having pregnancy-related complications. Interventions aimed at reducing maternal morbidity and mortality should aim at promoting early ANC attendance, and increasing access to safe abortion and family planning services. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement The author (s) received no specific funding for this work. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Makerere University School of Health Sciences Research and Ethics Committee I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. * ANC : Antenatal Care MOH : Ministry of Health RAs : Research Assistants SSA : Sub Saharan Africa UTIs : Urinary Tract Infections WHO : World Health Organization