Factors associated with timely initiation of antenatal care among pregnant women in Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia: Cross-sectional study.
Azimeraw Arega Tesfu, Amlaku Mulat Aweke, Getahun Belay Gela and 2 others
PMID 34951142WHAT IT FOUND
Only 44.2% of 804 pregnant women booked first antenatal care by 12 weeks.
Knowing the correct timing, secondary education, and first pregnancy after age 18 were associated with earlier booking.
Key findings
0144.2% of the 804 pregnant women booked first antenatal care by 12 weeks.
02The average first ANC visit was at 15.9 weeks of gestation.
03Timely booking was associated with secondary education or above, first pregnancy after age 18, and knowing the correct ANC timing.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that education, age, or information caused timely booking. It included only women who attended public ANC clinics in a single city, so it may not apply to women who never attend ANC or to other settings. First ANC timing was partly based on recall, with medical charts used only if recall failed, which may misclassify late or early booking. The authors did not use qualitative methods to explore why women booked late. Women who were seriously ill or in labour pain were excluded, so the sample may miss high-risk situations.
Declared interests
The authors state the manuscript is original and approved by all authors; the supplied text does not report funding or competing-interest disclosures.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that providing information or increasing education will make women book antenatal care earlier. This study only measured associations among women already attending public clinics, and it did not test an intervention.