ObjectivesThe purposes of the study are; (A) to identify whether Ethiopian women’s antenatal care (ANC) visits are adequate and timely and (B) to explore factors that determine these.DesignPanel study design.SettingEthiopia.ParticipantsA total of 2855 women nested within 217 enumeration areas.Primary outcome measuresAdequacy and timeliness of ANC visits.ResultsOf all the 2855 respondents, 65% had made an ANC visit once, while 26.8% initiated ANC visits in a timely way and 43.3% attended adequate ANC visits. Rural residence (adjusted OR (AOR)=0.55, 95% CI: 0.36 to 0.84), attending higher level of education (AOR=2.64, 95% CI: 1.47 to 4.77), being multipara (AOR=0.53, 95% CI: 0.32 to 0.89) and encouragement by partners to attend clinic for ANC (AOR=1.98, 95% CI: 1.14 to 3.44) were significantly associated with timeliness of ANC visit. Similarly, residing in rural areas (AOR=0.20, 95% CI: 0.12 to 0.35), attending higher level of education (AOR=2.96, 95% CI: 1.38 to 6.15), encouragement by partners to attend clinic for ANC (AOR=2.11, 95% CI: 1.31 to 3.40) and timeliness of ANC visit (AOR=4.59, 95% CI: 2.93 to 7.21) were significantly associated with adequacy of ANC visits.ConclusionsA quarter of the pregnant women started ANC visits during the first trimester and nearly half attended adequate ANC visits with wider disparities across regions of their origin and their background characteristics. Concerted efforts on tailored interventions for rural residents, female education and partner involvement are recommended for early and adequate ANC visit(s).