Utilisation of antenatal care services among women in the Asutifi South District of the Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana
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Date
JUNE, 2019
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Abstract
Maternal and neonatal health remain a global concern. Many interventions have been
initiated over the years to improve the health of the mother and the baby before and
during pregnancy and after delivery. Antenatal care services have been found to be
one of the effective measures to improve maternal and neonatal heath. Currently, the
WHO has developed a new model of ANC services that requires every pregnant
woman to have a minimum of 8 ANC visits during pregnancy. This study seeks to
assess the utilisation of ANC services among women in the Asutifi South District of
the Brong-Ahafo Region. It is a cross-sectional study involving 422 participants aged
15-49 who have recently delivered in the district attending post-natal services who
were selected by using simple random technique. Data were analysed using STATA
version 14.0. Logistic regressions were run to assess the factors influencing utilisation
of ANC services and pregnancy outcomes. From the study, 18.5% of respondents
made eight or more ANC visits during pregnancy. Although, all the respondents in the
study ever attended ANC services during pregnancy, the study revealed a knowledge
gap in the timing for ANC among respondents. Among the factors studied, ANC
utilisation was significantly influenced by marital status, knowledge on the required
number of ANC visits, partner and family accompaniment. Respondents who had
knowledge on the number of required ANC visits during pregnancy had higher odds
of making eight or more visits (AOR=11.769, CI=5.459-25.370). Additionally,
respondents who made eight or more ANC visits had significantly higher odds of
having babies with birth weight of 2.5kg and above (AOR= 3.623, 95%CI= 1.274-
10.301). Therefore, there is a need to create awareness on the required number of
ANC visits to be made during pregnancy among pregnant women in the district.
Additionally, families, partners and community members should be encouraged to
support and accompany pregnant women for ANC services.
Description
A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Public Health in Health Services Planning and Management.
Keywords
Utilisation, Antenatal Care Services, Women, Asutifi South District, Ghana, Brong-Ahafo Region