RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Early initiation of antenatal care and its associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care at public health centres in Bahir Dar Zuria zone, Northwest Ethiopia, 2021: a cross-sectional study
JF BMJ Open
JO BMJ Open
FD British Medical Journal Publishing Group
SP e065169
DO 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-065169
VO 13
IS 1
A1 Eskahun Ambaye
A1 Zegeye Wordofa Regasa
A1 Gizaw Hailiye
YR 2023
UL http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/1/e065169.abstract
AB Objectives This study aimed to assess the prevalence of, and factors associated with, early initiation of antenatal care (ANC) follow-up among pregnant women attending ANC services at Bahir Dar Zuria zone public health centres (HCs), Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia.Design An institution-based, cross-sectional study was conducted from 15 December 2020 to 1 March 2021. A systematic random sampling technique was applied to select the study participants.Setting Five public HCs (Han HC, Shimbit HC, Dagmawi Minilik HC, Shumabo HC and Meshentie HC) in Bahir Dar Zuria zone.Participants Pregnant mothers who were attending their ANC service during the data collection period were enrolled in this study. A total of 592 mothers were interviewed for the study.Outcome measure Early initiation of ANC services (within 16 weeks of gestation).Results 48.6% (95% CI 41.6% to 53.5%) of participants began their first ANC service before 16 weeks of gestation. Family size less than five (adjusted OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.25 to 3.25), urban residence (3.0, 1.48 to 6.17), secondary education (2.1, 1.3 to 3.6), college-level education and above (3.5, 1.8 to 6.8), primigravida (2.6, 1.65 to 4.14), planned pregnancy (3.5, 1.5 to 8.1) and knowledge about early initiation of ANC (1.7, 1.14 to 2.55) were significantly associated with early initiation of ANC.Conclusion A substantial number of participants had not received ANC services in a timely manner. Sociodemographic and obstetric characteristics of the respondents were associated with timely booking of ANC services. Dissemination of information about recommended time to initiate ANC services and efforts to improve women’s educational status to increase knowledge about early initiation of ANC are needed in the region.Data are available upon reasonable request. All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplemental information. The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.