Timely Initiation of Antenatal Care and Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in Southwest Ethiopia

Background: The timing of initiation of first antenatal care visit is paramount for ensuring optimal care and health outcomes for women and children. However, the existing evidence from developing countries, including Ethiopia, indicates that most pregnant women are attending antenatal care in late pregnancy. Thus, this study was aimed to assess timely initiation of antenatal care and associated factors among pregnant women attending antenatal care services in Southwest Ethiopia.

Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among 375 pregnant women from April 15 to June 15, 2019 in Southwest Ethiopia. A structured and pre-tested face-to-face interviewer-administered questionnaire technique was used to collect data. Systematic random sampling technique was employed to recruit pregnant women. The data were entered into Epi data version 4.4.2 and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Frequency tables, charts and measures of central tendency were used to describe the data. The effect of each variable on timely initiation of antenatal care was assessed using bi-variable logistic regression. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with timely initiation of antenatal care. The adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence interval and p<0.05 was used to identify factors associated with timely initiation of antenatal care.

Results: The study revealed that 41.9% of pregnant women started antenatal care timely. Pregnant women who had good knowledge of timely initiation of antenatal care (AOR = 3.8, 95% CI: 2.2-6.5), planned to be pregnant (AOR = 5.1, 95% CI: 2.9-8.9), being primigravida (AOR = 2.6, 95% CI: 1.4-4.7) and confirmed their pregnancy by urine test (AOR = 4.1, 95% CI: 2.4-6.9) were found to be significant predictors for timely initiation of antenatal care.

Conclusions: Despite the efforts made to make ANC visit services freely available, timely initiation of antenatal care among pregnant women in the study area was low. Pregnant women who had good knowledge of timely initiation of antenatal care, planned to be pregnant, being primigravida and confirmed pregnancy by urine test were found to be significant predictors for timely initiation of antenatal care. Therefore, efforts that strengthen awareness on antenatal care and its right time of commencement, increase pregnant women's knowledge of timing of antenatal care services and reducing unplanned pregnancies should be organized.