Workie Amare (WA) 1*, Mengistu Teshager (MT)

ABSTRACT

Background: Antenatal care is valuable in preventing adverse pregnancy outcomes when it is sought early in the pregnancy and through to delivery. Despite the widespread availability of free antenatal care services, most women in Ethiopia attend their first antenatal care in late pregnancy. The objective of this study was to determine proportion and reasons of late antenatal care booking among pregnant women attending antenatal care. Methods: Institution based Cross-sectional study complemented with qualitative study was conducted in Alamata Hospital from March 1st to March 30th, 2015. For the quantitative data study participants were selected through systematic random sampling technique and collected through pretested structured interviewer questionnaire. Focus Group Discussion was conducted for qualitative data. Data consistency was checked and entered into EpiInfo then exported to SPSS for further analysis. Descriptive analysis was done and qualitative data was also presented. Result: The proportion of pregnant women who start their first antenatal care after 16 weeks was 61.4%. The mean time of visit was 5 months (SD 2.74). From qualitative data, respondents who booked late stated that, they delay to seek care due to appointment that the health facilities made in the previous pregnancy, they were not aware they became pregnant, didn’t understand the importance of early booking while some women were due to not going to the hospital if they do not have any problem. Conclusions: Majority of pregnant mothers do not practice early booking of antenatal care provided that the service is accessible. The need for proper advice and information on timely booking from service providers and health institution is very important. Key words: ANC, Late Booking, Practice, Ethiopia