Identifying Factors Associated with Barriers in the Number of Antenatal Care Service Visits among Pregnant Women in Rural Parts of Ethiopia
Sali Suleman Hassen, Belete Mulatu Teshale, Lema Abate
Abstract
Background. Antenatal care visit is the service given to pregnant women to have a safe pregnancy and a healthy baby. The main objective of this study was to identify potential factors for the barriers in the number of antenatal care visits. Methods. Data for this study was taken from the 2016 Ethiopian demographic health survey. All childbearing women from rural parts of Ethiopia were considered in this study, and the count regression model was used to explore the major risk factors for the barriers in the number of antenatal care service visits. Results. Nearly 42% of pregnant mothers did not visit antenatal care services, and only 1% of the mothers attended antenatal care service visits eight times and above. From hurdle Poisson regression model results, women having previous pregnancy complication (AOR = 1.16; <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"> <a:mi>P</a:mi> <a:mo>≤</a:mo> <a:mn>0.001</a:mn> </a:math> ); husbands with primary education (AOR = 1.02; <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"> <c:mi>P</c:mi> <c:mo>=</c:mo> <c:mn>0.004</c:mn> </c:math> ), secondary education (AOR = 1.117; <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"> <e:mi>P</e:mi> <e:mo>≤</e:mo> <e:mn>0.0001</e:mn> </e:math> ), and higher education (AOR = 1.191; <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"> <g:mi>P</g:mi> <g:mo>≤</g:mo> <g:mn>0.001</g:mn> </g:math> ); middle wealth index (AOR = 1.08; <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"> <i:mi>P</i:mi> <i:mo>=</i:mo> <i:mn>0.006</i:mn> </i:math> ); richer wealth index (AOR = 1.10; <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"> <k:mi>P</k:mi> <k:mo>≤</k:mo> <k:mn>0.001</k:mn> </k:math> ); maternal age 35–49 (AOR = 0.690; <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7"> <m:mi>P</m:mi> <m:mo>≤</m:mo> <m:mn>0.001</m:mn> </m:math> ); being exposed to media access (AOR = 1.745; <o:math xmlns:o="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8"> <o:mi>P</o:mi> <o:mo>=</o:mo> <o:mn>0.019</o:mn> </o:math> ); having distance problem (AOR = 0.75; <q:math xmlns:q="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9"> <q:mi>P</q:mi> <q:mo>=</q:mo> <q:mn>0.013</q:mn> </q:math> ); planned pregnancy (AOR = 1.42; <s:math xmlns:s="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M10"> <s:mi>P</s:mi> <s:mo>=</s:mo> <s:mn>0.002</s:mn> </s:math> ); and mothers with primary education (AOR = 1.85; <u:math xmlns:u="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M11"> <u:mi>P</u:mi> <u:mo>≤</u:mo> <u:mn>0.001</u:mn> </u:math> ) and secondary (AOR = 2.387; <w:math xmlns:w="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M12"> <w:mi>P</w:mi> <w:mo>≤</w:mo> <w:mn>0.001</w:mn> </w:math> ) were statistically associated with barriers in the number of ANC service visits. Conclusion. As indicated in the findings, there is underutilization of the antenatal care service visits regarding rural women in Ethiopia. Having a low education level, no media access, distance problem from the health facility, and not planned pregnancy decrease the rate of antenatal care service visits. To fill this discrepancy, the concerned bodies including government and nongovernmental organizations should work on the identified factors in the rural parts of the country to save children and mothers.