Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Aug 25:14:287.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-14-287.

Timing and factors associated with first antenatal care booking among pregnant mothers in Gondar Town; North West Ethiopia

Temesgen Worku Gudayu  1 , Solomon Meseret Woldeyohannes, Abdella Amano Abdo
Affiliations

Timing and factors associated with first antenatal care booking among pregnant mothers in Gondar Town; North West Ethiopia

Temesgen Worku Gudayu et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Antenatal care service which is among strategies to maintain maternal and fetal wellbeing is strongly recommended to be initiated early during pregnancy. To developing world where there is uncommon practice of pre-pregnancy care and support, timely commencement is crucial in getting potential benefits from some of the elements of the care. Therefore, we sought to assess timing and factors associated with the first antenatal care booking among pregnant mothers attending antenatal care clinics in Gondar town health facilities; North West Ethiopia.

Methods: Health institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among pregnant mothers from April to June 2012 in Gondar town. A total of 407 pregnant mothers were interviewed at exit from antenatal clinic by using structured and pre-tested questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate data analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows version 16.0.

Result: The study indicated that 35.4% of mothers started antenatal care timely (in the first trimester of pregnancy). The mean time was 4.5 months (17.7 weeks) of pregnancy. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that: [(AOR (95% CI)) maternal age ≤ 25 (1.85 (1.10, 3.09)), age at marriage ≥20 years (2.21 (1.33, 3.68)), pregnancy recognition by urine test (2.29 (1.42, 3.71)), mothers who perceived the right time to start antenatal care within first trimester (3.93 (2.29, 6.75)) and having decision power to use antenatal care (2.43 (1.18, 4.99))] were significantly associated with timely commencement to antenatal care.

Conclusion: Timely entry to antenatal care was low in the study area. In order to improve the situation, it is important to provide community based information, education and communication on antenatal care and its right time of commencement. In addition, empowering women and implementing the proclamation designed for the age at marriage is mandatory up to the local level.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of pregnant women by gestational age in weeks during ANC booking, Gondar town, Ethiopia, April-June 2012.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of pregnant women who perceived the right time for ANC booking, Gondar town, Ethiopia, April-June 2012.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Nieburg P. Improving Maternal Mortality and Other Aspects of Women’s Health. Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies; 2012.
    1. WHO, Unicef, UNFPA, The World Bank e . Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2010. 2012.
    1. Central Statistical Agency: ICF International . Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey. 2012.
    1. Campbell OM, Graham WJ. Strategies for reducing maternal mortality: getting on with what works. Lancet. 2006;368:1284–1299. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(06)69381-1. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bloom SS, Theo Lippeveld A, Wypij D. Does antenatal care make a difference to safe delivery? A study in urban Uttar Pradesh. India Health Policy and Planning. 1999;14(1):38–48. doi: 10.1093/heapol/14.1.38. - DOI - PubMed
Pre-publication history
    1. The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/14/287/prepub

Publication types