WHY PREGNANT WOMEN DELAY TO ATTEND PRENATAL CARE? CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY ON TIMING OF FIRST ANTENATAL CARE BOOKING AT PUBLIC HEALTH INSTITUTIONS IN ADDIS ABABA

Background: The purpose of antenatal care is to improve pregnancy outcome
for both the mother and the fetus. Antenatal care is more beneficial in
preventing adverse pregnancy outcomes when it is sought early in the
pregnancy and continued through to delivery. However, existing evidence
from developing countries including Ethiopia indicate that few women seek
ANC at early stage of their pregnancy.
Objective: The objective of this study is to assess timing of fist
antenatal care booking and factors that influence the timing.
Method: A cross sectional study design was used to collect data from
630 pregnant women who were attending antenatal care service at 10
government health centers in Addis Ababa from March 1 to 30, 2008.
Result: The proportion of respondents who made their first antenatal care
within the recommended time [before or at 12 weeks of gestation] was found
to be 40.2%. The timing of antenatal care booking ranges from 1st month to
9th months of gestation. The mean timing was 4 months [SD 1.8].
Multivariate analysis revealed that respondents with parity zero, who said
their pregnancy was planned and who received advice on advantage of early
booking were more likely to book timely compared to others [OR= 1.860, 95%
CI: 1.005, 3.441], [OR=1.918, 95% CI:1.105,3.328] and [OR=10.236, 95%CI:
4.580, 22.875] respectively. Past service utilization did not seen as predictors
for timely booking.