an examination of the role of antenatal care attendance in ...

These results were also observed in other developing countries. A study was conducted in Jamaica to
compare under-users and those using antenatal care adequately (McCaw Binns et al. 1995). The study
found that about 61 percent of pregnant women reported to have presented themselves for antenatal
care in their second semester. According to McCaw Binns et al. (1995), women who presented
themselves late for antenatal care were likely to be self employed, unmarried and teenagers. In
addition, they were also likely to represent the group who had previously uneventful pregnancies and
for whom the present pregnancy has been basically without problems.
The reasons for the late antenatal care attendance included: lack of access to the antenatal care facility,
uncertainty about pregnancy status, perception that the mother had to feel the fetus moving inside them
for them to report to the facility, and lack of perceived benefits of antenatal care in general (Myer and
Harrison 2003). The behaviour of reporting late and failure to follow up on antenatal care may result in
adverse birth outcomes such as deaths and illnesses of the mother and child.
2.4 Factors affecting antenatal care attendance
Literature shows that pregnancies are affected by antenatal care seeking behaviour. Socio-economic
status and demographic factors influences birth outcomes, through antenatal care seeking behaviour
(Pallikadavath et al. 2004; Magadi et al. 2000). A review of literature suggests that in developing
countries, the utilisation of antenatal care can be influenced by socio-economic factors such as the level
of education of the pregnant women (Magadi et al. 2000; Abdel Hady and Yahia 2002); demographic
factors such as parity, maternal age, place of residence; and environmental factors such as distance to
the clinic (Nielses 2000, Mekonnen and Mekonnen 2002).
Other authors argue that demographic factors such as parity and age of the mother and also infections,
such as STFs, including HIV/AIDS can affect birth outcomes independently. These factors can be
prevented through early detection and treatment of such problems (Fraser, Brockert and Ward 1995;
Smith and Pell 2001); however, literature has suggested that the majority of women tend to initiate
antenatal care much later during their pregnancy, thus limit the chances of treating these conditions
early during pregnancy.
2.4.1 Socio-economic factors
Many studies have shown a strong association between levels of education and health care utilization.
In their study investigating how socio-economic status affects the health seeking behaviour of people of
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