Abstract
BackgroundDespite a global reduction of about 38% in maternal mortality rate between 2000 and 2017, sub-Saharan Africa is still experiencing high mortality among women. Access to high quality care before, during and after childbirth has been described as one of the effective means of reducing such mortality. In the sub-region, only 52% of women receive at least four antenatal visits. This study examined the factors influencing antenatal care utilization in sub-Saharan Africa.MethodsData from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 31 countries involving 235,207 women age 15–49 years who had given birth to children within 5 years of the surveys were used in the study. Multinomial logistic regression model was applied in the analysis.ResultsAbout 13% of women in sub-Saharan Africa did not utilize antenatal care while 35 and 53% respectively partially and adequately utilized the service. Adequate utilization of antenatal care was highest among women age 25–34 years (53.9%), with secondary or higher education (71.3%) and from the richest households (54.4%). The odds of adequate antenatal care utilization increased for women who are educated up to secondary or higher education level, from richest households, working, living in urban areas, exposed to media and did not experience problem getting to health facility or obtaining permission to visit health facility.ConclusionsThis study has revealed information not only on women who did not utilize antenatal care but also on women who partially and adequately utilized the service. The study concluded that the correlates of antenatal care utilization in sub-Saharan Africa include socioeconomic and demographic factors, getting permission to visit health facility, unwillingness to visit health facility alone and problem encountered in reaching the health facility.
Highlights
Adequate utilization of antenatal care was predominant among women who declared that they had no problem with respect to getting permission to use health facility (55.3%), reaching the health facility (57.9%) not willing to visit health facility alone (55.5%)
This study has shown that 35% of women in subSaharan Africa partially utilized antenatal care while 53% adequately utilized the service
Media exposure plays an important role in antenatal care utilization as women who are exposed to media have higher percentage of adequate antenatal care utilization than non-exposed women [31,32,33]
Summary
Despite a global reduction of about 38% in maternal mortality rate between 2000 and 2017, subSaharan Africa is still experiencing high mortality among women. Maternal mortality reduced globally by close to 38% between 2000 and 2017, sub-Saharan Africa is still experiencing high maternal deaths [1]. Records indicate that among the 15 countries that were considered as hot spots of maternal mortality, 8 were from sub-Saharan Africa. In 2016, the organization developed and published 39 recommendations which are related to five interventions aimed at ensuring a positive pregnancy experience for women [5]. Such interventions include nutritional interventions, maternal and foetal assessment, preventive measures, interventions for common physiological symptoms and health system interventions to improve utilization and quality of antenatal care [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
