Uptake of Antenatal Care Among Pregnant Women in Plateau State Nigeria

Amina Mohammed, Esther A Envuladu, Ize A Osagie, Gloria N Ode, Joshua A Difa, Ayuba I Zoakah

Background-Antenatal care offers pregnant women promotive, preventive and curative services. Despite this, some pregnant women still don’t access ANC at all while others don’t have access to ANC by skilled health care professionals. This increases the risk of maternal morbidity and mortality. This study therefore aims to determine the predictors of ANC attendance among in Plateau State. Methodology-A community based cross sectional study,400 study participants across six communities in the three senatorial zones in Plateau State were selected. Focused Group Discussion was conducted among study participants. Data was analysed using SPSS version 23. Results- 90.8% of respondents booked their last pregnancy out of which 55.8% had more than four ANC visits. Only 52.9% of the women had ANC by skilled health care providers. 69.7% of women who did not book their pregnancy delivered at home. Educational status, marital status and marital setting were predictors of ANC attendance among the study population. Women who had formal education were 1.7 times more likely to attend ANC compared to those with non-formal or no education at all. (P-value <0.001 CI 1.267-2.321). Also, women in monogamous settings were more likely to attend ANC compared to those in polygamous setting (P-value 0.015 CI 0.162-0.822). Conclusion-Many of the respondents did not have the required number of ANC visits. More targeted interventions should be implemented in order to ensure that women have access to skilled care during pregnancy as this will reduce the risk of complications in pregnancy and delivery.