Magnitude and Associated Factors of Herbal Medicine Use During Pregnancy Among Women Attending Antenatal Care in Public Health Institutions of Central Tigray, Northern Ethiopia (2020): Facility-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: Herbal medicine is described by the World Health Organization (WHO) as plant-derived compounds, either raw or processed, that are thought to have therapeutic advantages. Herbal medication is becoming more and more popular worldwide, particularly during pregnancy. The WHO estimates that 80% of people utilize herbal remedies. In Ethiopia, grandmothers and grandfathers frequently use herbal medicine at home to treat common health issues. Instead of using medically proven treatments during their pregnancy, the majority of expectant mothers trust herbal remedies. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude and associated factors of herbal medicine use during pregnancy among women attending antenatal care in public health institutions of central Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Methods: Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 01 to May 15, 2020. Data were collected using a structured and pretested questionnaire. Data were entered into Epi-data manager version 7.2.5 and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Both binary and multivariate logistic regression analyses were carried out to assess the associated factors. Variables with p value less the 0.2 in bivariate analysis were transferred to multivariate analysis, and variables with p value ≤ 0.05 were considered as significant. Result: Out of the total 333 respondents, making a response rate of 100%, 176 (52.9%) used herbal medicine during current pregnancy. The most common medicines used during pregnancy were garlic (59.4%) and ginger (51.7%). Occupation that is housewife had educational status (AOR = 11.816, 95% CI 1.848-35.535), illiterate (AOR = 1.886, 95% CI 1.586-2.241), residency/rural (AOR = 2.905, 95% CI 1.173-7.197), and average monthly income less than 500 Ethiopian birrs (AOR = 7.621, 95% CI 2.691-21.585) were factors that are significantly associated with the use of herbal medicine during pregnancy. Conclusion and Recommendation: Based on our results, herbal medicine use during pregnancy is highly practiced in this study, and occupation, residency, educational status, and average monthly income were the significantly associated factors of herbal medicine use during pregnancy. There is a need to educate and counsel pregnant women on the harmful effects of herbal medicine use during pregnancy by the health care personnel and health extension worker.