%0 Journal Article
%T Previous Early Antenatal Service Utilization Improves Timely Booking: Cross-Sectional Study at University of Gondar Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia
%A Tadesse Belayneh
%A Mulat Adefris
%A Gashaw Andargie
%J Journal of Pregnancy
%D 2014
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2014/132494
%X Background. Early booking of antenatal care (ANC) is regarded as a cornerstone of maternal and neonatal health care. However, existing evidence from developing countries indicate that lots of pregnant woman begin ANC booking lately. Objective. It was aimed to assess timing of ANC booking and associated factors among pregnant women attending ANC clinic at University of Gondar Hospital, 2013. Methods. An institution based cross-sectional study design was used to collect data with a face-to-face interview technique. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was used to identify associated factors for early ANC visit using SPSS version 20. Results. From total women (N = 369) interviewed, 47.4% were timely booked. Mothers with younger age (AOR = 3.83, 95% CI: 1.89, 10.53), formal education (AOR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.03, £¿7.61), previous early ANC visit (AOR = 2.39, 95% CI: 2.23, 9.86), and perceived ANC visit per pregnancy of four and greater were significantly associated with early ANC visit. Conclusions. Although late booking is a problem in this study, previous early utilization of ANC visit favors current timely booking. This indicates that the importance of early booking was appropriately addressed from previous visits. Counseling of timely booking during ANC visit should be strengthened. Moreover, empowering through education is also recommended. 1. Introduction World Health Organization (WHO) with a fifth Millennium Development Goal has planned to reduce maternal deaths by three-quarters by the year 2015 [1]. Antenatal care, a care given to pregnant women, is widely used for prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of general medical- and pregnancy-related complications [2]. Early ANC booking and regular follow-up of services usually provides opportunities for delivering health information and interventions (i.e., via early detection of modifiable preexisting medical conditions like Heart disease, Diabetes Mellitus, Hypertensive disorders, HIV/AIDS, and severe anemia) that can significantly enhance the health of the mother and fetus [3¨C9]. On the contrary, opportunities to provide information and other interventions pertaining to their reproductive health and the health of their unborn child are missed when a woman initiates ANC in late time of her pregnancy [10, 11]. The new World Health Organization ANC model states that every pregnant woman is at risk of complications and recommends early an ANC visit, of which the first should be during the first trimester. The visit is used to classify pregnant women into two groups based on previous history of
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jp/2014/132494/