Major Reproductive Health Problem Research Articles

Impotent Husband Culpable Wife: Feminization of Infertility in Ayobami Adebayo’s Stay with Me

This paper examines infertility as a major reproductive health problem that brings shame and leads to social exclusion of women in Sub-Saharan Africa. Infertility is a global issue that affects couples; however, the concept has been institutionalised by the enterprise of patriarchy in Sub-Saharan Africa to make it a woman’s issue. The paper demonstrates how childlessness has been socially and culturally constructed in African societies to hold women responsible for a couples’ problem, irrespective of the male factors related to infertility. The purpose of this paper is to disseminate information on reproductive health, which is a challenging conversation in most African communities, due to the complexity in the subject. Based on Ayobami Adebayo’s novel, Stay with Me, the text explores the task of the postcolonial African literary artist in providing information on infertility (reproductive health) in their narrative, hence, the interrelation between literary discourse and reproductive health. Erving Goffman’s theory of stigma will be employed to portray how childlessness is a discrediting problem in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a traumatic experience that reduces women to a tainted and discount other. The institution of motherhood created by patriarchy creates stereotypes about childless women for the interest of sterile men. Considering that male and female factors of infertility co-exist, the dialogic approach of Mary E. Modupe Kolawole and Obioma Nnaemeka is necessary in the follow up and management of infertility rather than focus on the woman who may not necessarily be the problem.

The emergence of natural products as potential therapeutics for male infertility.

Infertility is a major reproductive health problem. Approximately 50% of all documented cases of infertility are attributable to male factors, such as poor testicular function and semen quality. The recent significant global decline in sperm counts has serious implications for male fertility, but the armamentarium for improving testicular function and semen quality is limited. Natural products have a wide range of activities and are a major source of drugs for disease prevention and treatment. To provide ideas and a theoretical basis for the research and development of therapeutic drugs for male infertility, this review summarizes natural products (mostly monomers) that have been shown to improve testicular function and semen quality and their possible mechanisms of action. These natural products primarily improve testicular function and semen quality via antioxidant, antiapoptotic, and anti-inflammatory effects, in addition to increasing serum testosterone and reducing DNA damage in spermatozoa and testicular cells. Prospects for the application of natural products in the treatment of male infertility are discussed.

Determinants of late-stage cervical cancer presentation in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

IntroductionBehind breast, colorectal, and lung cancers, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer affecting females. Despite, it is a preventable form of cancer both the incidence and mortality figures reflect it as a major reproductive health problem. Late-stage cervical cancer diagnosis is associated with complicated clinical presentation which can result in short survival time and increased mortality. Several factors contribute to the late-stage presentation of cervical cancer patients. In Ethiopia nationally summarized evidence on the level and the factors contributing to late-stage cervical cancer diagnosis is scarce. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the pooled prevalence of late-stage cervical cancer diagnosis and its determinants in Ethiopia.MethodA systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted using PRISMA guidelines. Comprehensive literature was searched in PubMed, Embase, Google Scholar, and African Online Journal to retrieve eligible articles. A weighted inverse variance random effect model was used to estimate pooled prevalence. Cochrane Q-test and I2 statistics were computed to assess heterogeneity among studies. Funnel plot and Egger’s regression test were done to assess publication bias.ResultOverall, 726 articles were retrieved and finally 10 articles were included in this review. The pooled prevalence of late-stage cervical cancer diagnosis in Ethiopia was 60.45% (95%CI; 53.04%-67.85%). Poor awareness about cervical cancer and its treatment (AOR = 1.55, 95% CI: (1.03 – 2.33, longer delay to seek care (AOR = 1.02, 95% CI: (1.01 – 1.03)) and rural residence (AOR = 2.07, 95% CI:( 1.56 – 2.75)) were significantly associated to late-stage diagnosis.ConclusionIn Ethiopia, six in every ten cervical cancer cases are diagnosed at the late stage of the disease. Poor awareness about cervical cancer and its treatment, long patient delay to seek care, and rural residence were positively associated with late–stage diagnosis. Therefore intervention efforts should be made to improve public awareness about cervical cancer, minimize patient delay to seek care, and expand screening services specifically in the rural residing segment of the population to detect the disease early and improve survival.

An intelligent adverse delivery outcomes prediction model based on the fusion of multiple obstetric clinical data

Adverse delivery outcomes is a major re-productive health problem that affects the physical and mental health of pregnant women. Obviously, obstetric clinical data has periodically time series characteristics. This paper proposed a three stage adverse delivery outcomes prediction model via the fusion of multiple time series clinical data. The first stage is data aggregation, in which the data set is collected from the obstetric clinical data and divided based on time series features. In the second stage, a multi-channel gated cycle unit is used to solve the calculation error caused by irregular sampling of time series data. The hidden layer feature vector is connected with the fully connected layer, reshaped into a new one-dimensional feature, and fused with the non-time series data into a new data set. The third stage is the prediction stage of adverse delivery outcomes. By connecting the multi-channel gated cycle unit with the extreme gradient lift, the data transmitted in the corresponding channel is used in the feature extraction stage, in which the weighted entropy-based feature extraction is adopted. With the help of the extracted features, a hybrid artificial neural network architecture (MGRU-XGB) was developed to predict adverse delivery outcomes. The experimental results showed that the hybrid model had the best prediction performance for adverse delivery outcomes compared with other single models in terms of sensitivity, specificity, AUC and other evaluation indexes.

Risk factors for short birth interval: A hospital-based cross-sectional study among women in the Nkongsamba Health District, Littoral Region, Cameroon.

Short birth interval remains a major reproductive health problem, especially in the developing world. It is associated with maternal, neonatal, infant and under-five morbidity and mortality. This study identifies the risk factors of short birth interval among women in Cameroon. Women in early postpartum (with at least one previous live birth) from four health facilities in the Nkongsamba Health District were consecutively included in the study from September 2021 to December 2021. All data were collected by interview, using a semi-structured questionnaire, and analysed in Epi-Info version 7.2.3.1. With a statistically significant threshold of 5%, the adjusted odds ratio was used in multiple logistic regression to measure the association between short birth interval and potential factors. This study included a total of 679 participants with an age range of 18 to 47 years. Short birth interval was recorded in 46.10 [95%CI: 42.38-49.86]% of these women. A little more than half (56.72%) had at most 4 pregnancies already, while only 06.35% had at least 8 pregnancies in their reproductive life. Maternal age ≤ years (AOR = 2.66[1.80-3.93]), less than or equal to 10 months of breastfeeding of the previous child (OR = 2.48[1.80-3.41]), use of modern contraception before conception (AOR = 0.62 [0.43-0.89]), and the number of household occupants below 5 (AOR = 0.60[0.40-0.92]) were significantly associated with short birth interval. Short birth interval remains a significant call for concern in Cameroonian women. The likelihood of short birth interval is affected by maternal age, duration of breastfeeding, use of modern contraception and number of household occupants. Interventions to promote effective breastfeeding and postpartum family planning uptake are indispensable in the fight against short birth interval in Cameroon.

Determinants of Health Facilities Influencing Utilization of Free Maternity Services Among Women of Reproductive Age 15-49 Years Attending Health Facilities in Homa-Bay County

Free maternity services is the offering of medical and obstetric care to pregnant women without any financial cost. Complications related to pregnancy were a major reproductive health problem that lead to disability and increased maternal deaths. Free maternity was introduced in Kenya in 2013 with a focus of achieving 100% utilization of the service and reducing high mortality rate. Homa-Bay County had a low percentage of 54% deliveries taking place in health facilities within the county. The main objective of this study was to establish Determinants of Health facilities Influencing Utilization of Free Maternity Services among Women of Reproductive Age 15-49 Years Attending Health Facilities in Homa-Bay County. Descriptive cross-sectional study design was applied to establish the main objective of this study. A probability and non-probability sampling techniques was used to select 420 respondents. The study utilized quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. Data analysis was conducted with aid of Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) version 23. Analysis methods used were; factor analysis and regression analyses methods for quantitative data to determine the relationship and associations among the variables. Qualitative data was analyzed through content analysis by conducting thematic analysis. A total of 396 that was 94% response rate established 54% (213/396) mothers were interviewed and were aged between 20 years and 29years. Results showed that; age of the mothers was insignificant in utilization of free maternity services. Further analysis using logistics regression revealed that the respondents who agreed with the need for a well-equipped health facility with good sanitation system were 63% (OR 0.37, p = 0.03) more likely to reuse FMS. Distance was insignificant in utilization as long as the facility was well-equipped and adequately staffed as 57% (228/396).This study concluded that there was significant association between staff respect, and honesty of the staff with utilization of free maternity service. This study recommended that the County Government of Homa-Bay should increase awareness to women of reproductive age at the community level about FMS through Community health promotion officers in order to improve FMS uptake in Homa-Bay County.

A dyadic approach to depression, resilience and quality of life on marital adjustment among infertile couples in Karachi, Pakistan: A cross-sectional study.

Infertility is a major reproductive health problem in Pakistan. It has the potential to cause serious negative impact on a couple's marital life and psychological health. This study aimed to assess the factors associated with maladjustment among infertile couples. An analytical cross-sectional design was employed. Validated scales were used to assess marital adjustment, depression, resilience and quality of life among infertile couples. Purposive sampling was employed to enrol 334 infertile couples from a private infertility medical centre, of Karachi, Pakistan. Among couples, marital adjustment scores were comparable, but resilience and quality of life were significantly low among wives whereas depression was significantly high among wives compared with husbands. Wives' marital adjustment was positively correlated with husband's resilience and quality of life and negatively related with his depression. After employing adjusted actor-partner interdependence modelling, wives' own depression and resilience had significant effect on their marital adjustment and their partner's resilience, depression and quality of life did not have any impact on their outcome. On the contrary, wives' resilience had a significant effect in increasing the marital adjustment of their husband. This study highlights the need to promote psychological support (resilience building skills) or couples' therapy to all those couples undergoing infertility treatment.

Increased incidence of spontaneous abortions on exposure to cadmium and lead: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background Spontaneous abortions are the most severe complication of early pregnancy and are a major reproductive health problem. Although this could be caused due to various cytogenetic, immunological, or endocrinological reasons, role of environmental toxicants cannot be ruled out. In order to explore the role of cadmium and lead in causing spontaneous abortions, current systematic review and meta-analysis had been carried out. Methodology Literature search was performed using appropriate keywords in PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases up to December 25 2020 according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines (PRISMA). Metananalysis was carried out with the help of RevMan software (version 5.3). Results Meta-analysis of nine studies on cadmium concentrations in blood of women with at least one spontaneous abortions and controls revealed standardized mean difference (SMD)=3.39, 95% CI (2.17, 4.61), with p < .05. Similarly, meta-analysis of eight studies on lead concentrations revealed standardized mean difference (SMD)=6.24, 95% CI (4.34, 8.14), with p < .05. Conclusion Populations exposed to heavy metals such as cadmium and lead are at higher risk of pregnancy loss. Therefore, couples experiencing repeated pregnancy losses may be screened for heavy metal load.

Reproductive Health Constraints in Dairy Cows Managed Under Smallholder Farms of East Shewa, Ethiopia

Reproduction is a basic requirement to increase stock size, successfully replace culled cows and maintain constant milk production in dairy farms. However, the reproductive physiology of dairy cows is disturbed by several factors, the most important of which are reproductive disorders. The current study was conducted to identify major reproductive health problems in two selected zones of Oromia National Regional State, Ethiopia. Reproduction and production performance history of selected cows were collected from 123 farm owners. The mean age, parity, age at first calving (AFC), age at first service (AFS), calving to first service (CFS), service per conception (SPC), average calving interval (ACI), the average lactation length and average daily milk yield were 65.8 ± 30.5 M, 2.48 ± 1.6, 30 ± 8.6 M, 19.61 ± 6.3, 3.3 ± 1. 7M, 2.75 ± 1.74 M, 14.3 ± 3.4 M, 11.5 ± 3.4 M and 12.3 ± 6.6 L, respectively. From a total of 252 studied dairy cows, 102 (40.5%) had either a history or active reproductive health problem. Among the problems identified, mastitis (43.6%), abortion (13.8%), retention of placenta (21.3%) and dystocia (7.4%) were found with high magnitude. While Vaginal prolapses (1.6%), repeated breeding (3.25%) and anoestrus (5.3%) were other reproductive health problems with a relatively lower incidence rate. Age (p= 0.01), Breed (p=0.04) and body condition (p=0.04) were identified as risk factors for reproductive problem. The observed reproductive health problems were higher as compared to other reports. Therefore, the constraints need to be addressed using holistic interventions which consist of feeds and nutrition, breeding and health packages. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/11-11-02 Publication date: June 30 th 2021

Factors Associated with Adolescent Pregnancy in Selebar District Bengkulu City

Adolescent pregnancy is common public health problem around the world. It is associated with major reproductive health problems that are at risk complications and childbirth causes maternal death and unsafe abortion. Purpose this study was identify and analyzed factors associated adolescent pregnancy in District Selebar, Bengkulu City. It is an analytical survey research with a cross sectional approach. Population was all young women aded 15-19 years old. The number of samples is 105 people with Sampling technique used probability proportional to size method. The instrument used was a questionnaire. Data analysis in the form of univariate and bivariate using the Chi-Square (χ2) statistical test, the amount of risk using the calculation of the Odd Ratio (OR) with a 95% confidence interval. The Result showed 66% of respondents’last education was basic education, 59% of respondents' knowledge was in the low category, 70% of respondents 'parents' income was at low level, 57% of respondents were influenced by peers and the incidence of pregnancy was 55%. There is a significant relationship between education, knowledge, parents' income and peer influence on the incidence of adolescent pregnancy in Selebar District with OR 2.76; 2.98; 3,45 and 3 respectively. Conclusion that adolescent pregnancy is detrimental to the health of women is therefore a step to improve early age sex education, in order to they are open to knowledge about reproductive organs and more responsible in taking action. In addition to increasing public awareness in enforcing the marriage law, ensuring access to education for women.

Evaluation of Spermatogenic Action in the Management of Oligospermia

Infertility is the major reproductive health problem in today’s era. About 15% of couples have infertility problems which 40% are related to the male factors. The oligozoospermia is a condition related to infertility which is associated with low sperm concentration. An objective of this study was to observe the effect of ayurvedic medicine on infertile men and to observe changes in sperm concentration, sperm motility and sperm morphology in the subjects before and after treatment. The interinstitutional study was conducted in the Physiology department, J N Medical College and Panchakarma at Wardha. Patients were also referred from department obstetrics and gynecology, Mahatma Gandhi Ayurved College Hospital and Research Center Salod. All the patients were informed regarding the procedure and the semen sample was collected. It was analyzed as per WHO guidelines. The patients having oligozoospermia were explained about the treatment pattern. They were called again for analysis of semen samples after 3 months and 6 months duration. Oligospermia is the condition in which sperm count &lt;20 Millions/ml. On observation, the results in patients before the treatment showed very less count of the sperm concentration, abnormal morphology and reduced motility was found. After the 3 and 6 months of the treatment percentage of sperm concentration, sperm motility and increased sperm morphology. The treatment of the patients was given oral Ayurvedic medicine in improvement of above said parameters. The conclusion of this study was the Ayurvedic formulation can be used in oligozoospermia patients.&#x0D;

A Comparative Study on Prevalence of Major Reproductive Health Problems of Indigenous and Cross Breed Dairy Cattle in Jimma Zone, South Western Ethiopia

The objective of the current study was to assess the major reproductive health problems and associated risk factors of dairy cattle in and around Jimma town, South–Western Ethiopia in the current study; out of 343 cows investigated (28%) were found to be positive for at least one reproductive health problems. The major reproductive health problems identified in the current study were retained fetal membrane (8.75%), abortion (7%), dystocia (6.4%), vaginal prolapsed (2.2%), still birth (2.0%), anestrous (0.6%), prolonged calving (0.6%) and repeat breeding (0.6%). The association was statistically significant (p<0.05). The prevalence of major reproductive health problems were found to be 3.72 times higher in Kersa and 1.43 times higher in Dedo district than Jimma town, while in Agaro and Saka were 0.5 and 0.95 times lower than Jimma town and the difference was statistically significant (P =0.029). Furthermore, cross breed cows were 0.55 times less likely prone to reproductive health problems than local breeds and the difference statistically significant (P=0.01). The multi-parous cows were 1.4 times more vulnerable to reproductive health problems than primiparous (P=0.007). Body condition score was also significantly contributing to the presence of reproductive health problems (P=.011). Current study revealed that major reproductive health problems are responsible for the low reproductive performance of dairy cows in the study area. Therefore, creating awareness among farm owners and animal attendants concerning reproductive health problems and their prevention mechanisms, as well as further study on identifying the specific causative agents were recommended of reproductive health problems should be conducted.

Determinants of obstructed labor among women attending intrapartum care in Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia: A hospital-based unmatched case-control study.

Objectives:maternal and neonatal mortality in Ethiopia is a major reproductive health problem. Obstructed labor is one of the leading causes of maternal, fetal, and neonatal morbidity in developing countries. The evidence regarding its determinants at the tertiary level of care is sparse. Therefore, this study aimed to study the determinants of obstructed labor among women attending intrapartum care in Amhara region referral hospitals.Methods:A Hospital-based unmatched case-control study was conducted from March 1stto August 30, 2017. Cases were women whose labor was obstructed (n = 270), and controls were women whose labor was not obstructed (n = 540). Both cases and controls were selected randomly, and a proportional to size allocation was made to the referral hospitals selected for the study. A binary and a multivariable logistic regression model was computed to identify the determinant factors at 95% CI.Results:The mean age of the study participants was 27.66 years (27.4 ± 5.44 for cases and 28.15 ± 6.16 for controls), ranging between 16 and 45 years. Relatively, higher proportions of cases than controls were unable to read and write (58.5%) and were urban residents (53.7%). Distance from hospital, distance from health center, mothers inability to read and write, mothers primary level of education, more than 28 weeks of gestation at the first visit of antenatal care, 37 to 42 weeks at admission, above 42 weeks at admission, women of a merchant spouse, and history of pregnancy-related complications were the positive determinants of obstructed labor. However, mothers whose gestational age was 16 to 28 weeks at the first antenatal care visit were 62% less likely to be exposed to obstructed labor.Conclusions:Obstetric, service-related, and system factors were predictors of obstructed labor. Improving women’s literacy status, health service access, and utilization will help reduce obstructed labor.

Utilization of Emergency Contraception and Associated Factors Among Vocational College Female Students in Shashemene Town, Oromia, Ethiopia, 2018

<i>Background</i>: Emergency contraception is a method to prevent unwanted or unintended pregnancies that could happen after unprotected sexual intercourse. It is a type of modern contraception that can be used following wrong use of contraception. In Ethiopia studies conducted in health facilities showed that unintended pregnancies and unprotected sexual intercourse are causing major reproductive health problems to adolescents. <i>Objective</i>: to assess the utilization of emergency contraception and associated factors among Technical and Vocational education training college female students in Shashemene town from June 10 – 30/2018. <i>Method</i>: an institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among Shashemene town Technical and Vocational education training college female students in June 2018. Collected data was entered into EPIINF version 7 and exported to SPSS version 21 for analysis. Association between dependent and independent variable was assessed using adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval and p-value for statistical significance (<0.05). <i>Result</i>: a total of 476 female students were participated in our study out of these, one hundred forty six (30.7%) of the respondents knew presence of emergency contraception and 58 (12.2%) of them had encountered unprotected sexual intercourse. Out of those who encountered unprotected sexual intercourse 42 (72.4%) had used emergency contraception. However, 17 (29.3%) of the respondents who reported unprotected sexual intercourse had history of unwanted pregnancy. Monthly family income was significantly associated with the utilization of emergency contraception (AOR=4.41 (95% CI: 1.44-13.48)). <i>Conclusion</i>: Unprotected sexual intercourse and unwanted pregnancy were available among study participants. Knowledge of emergency contraception among the study participants was low.

English

Cross sectional study was conducted in Alage dairy farm with the objectives of determining the causes of reproductive wastages, their prevalence and the risk factors on 173 dairy cows (68 Holstein Friesian (HF) and 105 Borena breed) from November 2017 to April 2018. Additionally, a one year data, from September, 2016 to September, 2017 on a total of 172 cows were analyzed. From the one year record data, 33.72% (n=58) of the cows has showed either one or more of major reproductive health problems. In the cross sectional survey, out of the total cattle 31.79% (n=55) were found to be affected either with one or more of major reproductive health problems. The common causes of reproductive wastages identified include repeat breeder, metritis, retained fetal membrane (RFM), abortion, anoestrus, and dystocia with prevalence of 16.18, 6.36, 5.78, 4.05, 3.47 and 2.9%, respectively. The breed and body condition of cattle were found to statistically significantly associated with the occurrence of reproductive problems (p 0.05). In conclusion, there were high reproductive wastages and multiple causes leading to reproductive wastages in Alage dairy farm, which needs due attention. Appropriate strategies to improve reproductive health in farm including training of farm workers to improve heat detection and artificial insemination efficiency, and enhancement of the general health management of the cows by applying appropriate herd health programs is recommended. Identification of etiologies of infectious diseases and their potential risk factors should be further studied in dairy cows. Key words: Alage, dairy cows, reproductive health problems, risk factors.

Major Reproductive Health and Productive Problems of Dairy Cattle in Selected Dairy Farms in Bishoftu, Central Ethiopia

Major Reproductive Health and Productive Problems of Dairy Cattle in Selected Dairy Farms in Bishoftu, Central Ethiopia

Birth and sorrow: The medico-social consequences of obstetric fistula in Ilesha, Nigeria

Background: Obstetric fistula is an abnormal communication between the epithelium of female genital tract and the bladder and (or) the rectum. It is not just “a hole”; it affects every aspect of the life of the sufferers. Objective: This study examined the etiology, psychosocial and medical consequences of obstetric fistula on the patients. Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study with quantitative and qualitative data collection methods employed. Quantitative data collection was done by the aid of a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire while qualitative data collection was by focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs). The sample consists of eligible and consenting patients with obstetric fistula admitted for repair at the Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesha between July 2017 and August 2018. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 86 patients. Results: The mean age of patients was 28.7 years ± 7.5 (SD) with a divorce rate of 40%. Only 10% of them had their first marriage between ages 15 and 20 years. Prolong obstructed labor accounted for 55.8% of all the obstetric fistula in this study. The remaining were either following hysterectomy or cesarean section. Reported medical problems were dermatitis (60%), dyspareunia (25%), recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI) (10%), infertility (5%), and amenorrhea (5%). Socially, 45% felt ostracized, and 50% were economically impoverished by job loss. Some 56.6% respondents suggested that hospital delivery was a preventive measure, while 8% felt that avoidance of early marriage would prevent obstetric fistula. Conclusion: Obstetric fistula is still a major reproductive health problem. Most of these patients understand the role of unsupervised childbirth in its development.

Major Reproductive Health and Productive Problems of Dairy Cattle in Selected Dairy Farms in Bishoftu, Central Ethiopia

This study was conducted with the objectives of identifying major productive and reproductive problems of dairy cows in four farms in Bishoftu, Central Ethiopia. A total of 153 dairy cows were studied, out of which, 40.5% (n=62) were affected by at least one of productive and reproductive problems. Overall abortion, dystocia and retained foetal membrane were found with prevalence of 10.9%, 9.3%, and 48%, respectively. The prevalence of retained foetal membrane showed very highly significant difference among the farms studied (P 0.05). Milk yield per lactation ranges from 515 to 7210 litres at Almaz farm and at Genesis farms respectively. The difference in milk yield among the farms studied was very highly significant and the maximum yield at Almaz farm is lower than the minimum yield recorded at other farms. Similarly the mean number of service per conception, parity, mean number of calves per cow and the age of cows kept on the farms were found to vary significantly while the difference in calving interval was shown to be marginal (P=0.07). Linear regression analysis showed that only farms and retained foetal membrane are factors affecting milk yield. In general, there is great variation in reproductive and productive parameters among dairy cattle raised in different farms showing the need for further improvement.

English

The ultimate goal integrated herd health management is to lower calving interval, decrease the number of services per conception thereby increasing reproduction and production but reproductive health disorders affect the reproductive performance of the dairy cows, the number of potential replacement needed to maintain a constant herd size and the longevity of the cow in the herd. There was insufficiency research information in the particular situation in the area for dairy production intensification. Assessments were conducted to identify the major reproductive health problems of dairy cattle and associated risk factors at Boloso Sore, Ethiopia from November 2016 to April 2017. In the present study, smallholder dairy owners were interviewed using local language; data on dairy reproductive performances particularly history of reproductive health problems were collected. A total of 200 respondents were interviewed and the finding revealed that the most frequently encountered reproductive health problems were repeat breeding, dystocia, abortion retained fetal membranes, uterine prolapsed, and still birth: 17,16.5, 14.5, 5.5, 3.5, and 1% respectively were record. Overall, fifty two percent (n=104/200) of dairy owners responded to the presence of either one or more reproductive disorders history in their herd. In the present study the association of history of reproductive problems showed significant difference with respect to breed and parity of dairy cattle thus, Holstein cross breed dairy with increased parity was recorded to have history of reproductive health problem than others in the management system. Further studies should be conducted at different cross blood level, and awareness given to farm owners and attendants to improve dairy management with increased parity. Key words: Abortion, Boloso sore, breed, dairy, parity, reproductive health problem.

Assessment of major reproductive health problems, their effect on reproductive performances and association with brucellosis in dairy cows in Bishoftu town, Ethiopia

A Thesis Submitted to College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture of Addis Ababa University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for Degree of Masters of Science in Tropical Animal Production and Health