Abstract:
Background: - Adequate antenatal care services are critical for the early detection of pregnancy-related risk factors and the health of women throughout pregnancy. On the other side, inadequacy of antenatal care utilization is a major factor which plays a critical role in hindering timely identification and proper management of maternal and fetal conditions which in turn greatly increases maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality. However, most of the existing studies of antenatal care utilization focus on frequency only and there are limited studies that aim to assess the adequacy of antenatal care utilization by combining frequency of visit, timing of primary visit and service contents as a primary outcome in Ethiopia.
Objective: The objective of the study is to assess adequate antenatal care utilization and associated factors among mothers visiting EPI units Ambo town public health institutions, West Shoa Zone, Oromia region, Ethiopia. 2022.
Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 431 study participants in the Ambo town public health institutions. Study participants were selected by a systematic random sampling method from July 21 to August 21, 2022. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection through a face-to-ace interview. Data were entered into Epi-Data Version 3.1 and exported to SPSS Version 26 for analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was computed and variables with p-value < 0.25 were considered a candidate for multivariable logistic regression. Adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals was estimated to identify the association. Statistical significance was declared at a p-value <0.05.
Results: - This study shows that, overall adequacy of antenatal care utilization among women attending expanded program of immunization service in public health facilities of Ambo town was found to be 38.1%. In addition, women with no formal education, women who were unable to make decision about ANC care utilization on their own, lower house hold wealth quintiles, unplanned pregnancy, low social support and Perception of poor provider-client approach were factors identified as significantly associated with inadequate ANC utilizations.
Conclusions and Recommendations: - This study reveals that, overall adequacy of antenatal care utilization among women attending EPI service in public health facilities of Ambo town was found to be 38.1%. In addition, lower house hold wealth quintiles, women with no formal education, women who were unable to make decision about ANC care utilization on their own, unplanned pregnancy, low social support and Perception of poor provider-client approach were factors identified as significantly associated with inadequate ANC utilizations. Program managers and implementers, decision makers at different levels and health care providers, as well as researchers were recommended to act on identified factors and conduct further studies
