Prevalence and Factors Associated with Late Antenatal Care Visit in Ethiopia: A population-based study using the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey
Abstract Objectives Maternal health care services are important for the survival and wellbeing of both mother and infant. In 2015, an estimated 303,000 women died from pregnancy-related complications. The Ethiopian government has implemented strategies to enhance maternal health service utilization, and reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. However, only 20.4% of women initiated the first antenatal care visit before 16 weeks of gestation. Therefore, this study assessed factors associated with late antenatal care visit in Ethiopia. A community based cross-sectional study design was used to examine 4,740 women from the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey data. Odds ratios with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) were computed to examine the strength of an association. In the multivariable analysis, variables with p-value <0.05 were considered as statistically significant. Result The prevalence of late initiation of first antenatal care visit in Ethiopia was 67.3% (65.0%,69.6%). Living in rural areas (AOR= 95% CI:1.19,2.56) and fifth or above birth order (AOR=1.5;95% CI:1.10,2.00) were significantly associated with late antenatal care visit. Consequently, increasing the access and utilization of family planning, and raise an awareness on the benefit of early initiation of first antenatal care visit is recommended.