Household Socioeconomic Status and Antenatal Care Utilization Among Women in the Reproductive-Age

Abstract

The study examined the effect of household socioeconomic status and other socio-demographic characteristics on antenatal care (ANC) utilization among 819 women within the reproductive ages across eight rural communities in Delta State, Southern part of Nigeria. Characteristics of the women were described using simple proportion and frequency. The chi-square test was used to examine factors that were significantly associated with a minimum of four (≥4) and eight (≥8) antenatal care contacts, which were respectively in line with the focused ANC and WHO's new guideline. The multivariable logistic regression was used to examine the determinants of a minimum of four and eight ANC. Statistical analyses were set at 5%. The results showed that 31.4% (257/819) and 2.2% (18/819) of mothers, respectively, made ≥ 4 and ≥ 8 ANC contacts in the course of their last pregnancies. According to the results, the odds for reporting 4≥ and ≥ 8 ANC improved with both wealth and educational attainment. Distance to the health center and cost are barriers to maternal care utilization and they reduce the odds for undertaking ≥ 4 and ≥8 ANC contacts. Women on higher media exposure were more likely to undertake ≥ 4 and ≥8 ANC contacts, and those on the highest media exposure were more likely to undertake ≥8 ANC contacts. Financing maternal care through health insurance and free maternal care significantly improves the odds to undertake ≥ 4 and ≥ 8 ANC contacts. Intervention programs should be designed to improve access to maternal care services and should expand education opportunities for mothers, improve household socioeconomic conditions, and encourage enrolment in health insurance and free maternal care in the study area.

Correlates of late initiation and underutilisation of the recommended eight or more antenatal care visits among women of reproductive age: insights from the 2019 Ghana Malaria Indicator Survey

“…Further, women of low socioeconomic status had higher odds of underutilisation compared with women of high socioeconomic status. This finding is consistent with a recent study in Nigeria 36 where women of high socioeconomic status were more likely to attain the recommended ANC visits. Another study in Myanmar revealed that pregnant women in the highest wealth quintile were three times more likely to attain the recommended eight or more ANC visits compared with women in the lowest wealth quintile.…”

Periodontal Inflamed Surface Area Is Associated With Increased Gestational Blood Pressure and Uric Acid Levels Among Pregnant Women From Rural North China

“…However, a number of confounding variables including the quality and regularity of prenatal care and diet that can influence gestational health. Considering these and other such variables were not assessed directly, a latent variable "dem" was constructed using maternal age and SES, as both of these factors are contributory to antenatal care utilization patterns, dietary variables, and pregnancy outcomes (48)(49)(50).…”

Factors affecting the Utilization of Antenatal Care Services among Pregnant Women at St Paul’s Health Center IV in Kasese District. A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

“…This was probably because most of the respondents had an individual source of income since most of them were business and civil servants respectively which made them afford to pay the necessary costs of laboratory tests. These findings were similar to those of a cross-sectional study in Delta State, Southern Nigeria, which revealed that the proportion of respondents who reported ≥ 4 antenatal contacts increases as household wealth quintiles improve (Sui et al, 2021).…”