Determinants of Antenatal Care Utilization. a Community-Based Study in Arssi Zone
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Date
1994-05
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Addis Abeba Universty
Abstract
A community based cross sectional s tudy was carried out in
Arsi zone to investigate factors that affect women's use of ANC and
to see the utilization pattern of prenatal care.
1204 women in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy and 801 in the
3 months post delivery from 4 towns with access to ANC service were
included as study subjects. A pretested questionnaire was
administered to collect data on study variables.
The study found that about 52.2% of women had not attended
antenatal clinics at all, and only 32.5% of women attenders had
their first visit in the first trimester of pregnancy. About 45.2%
of attenders had one or two prenatal visits while few (10.6%) had
the recommended 5 visits. Reasons for attendance were found to be
non-specific . The main reason for non-attendance at ANC clinic
were related to lack of knowledge of the need for ANC, and lack of
time.
Analysis showed that the chance of non-attendance was higher
for those women in the older age group, widows and divorced women,
and those with no formal schooling, low monthly income, high parity
and many living children.
The probability of non-attendance was higher for those with
unplanned pregnancy and those who had negative attitudes to the
v
current pregnancy . Family problems and lack of time were also
found to influence their attendance at ANC clinic.
In this study, those who had perceived any illness as
dangerous were more likely to be attenders of the service. Women
who thought that they might develop dangerous health problems
during pregnancy were also more likely to use the service.
Recommendations concerning the improvement of ANC service and
use are proposed.
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Keywords
Determinants of Antenatal Care Utilization