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.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

The author (s) received no specific funding for this work.

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Makerere University School of Health Sciences Research and Ethics Committee

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