ANTENATAL CARE SERVICE UTILIZATION AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG REPRODUCTIVE AGE WOMEN WHO GIVE BIRTH: THE CASE OF WELKAIT WOREDA, WESTERN ZONE OF TIGRAY REGION

Abstract

Background: Antenatal care is one of the important factors in reducing maternal morbidity and mortality; currently many women in developing countries including Ethiopia do not receive such care. The study aimed to assess Antenatal care Service utilization and its associated factors among reproductive age women who give birth the case of Welkait Woreda, Western zone of Tigray. Methods: A community based cross sectional study with quantitative and qualitative method was conducted from December 2017 to January 2018 in Welkait wereda. A systematic random sampling method was used to select 334 women at reproductive age who give birth from the list of households. Quantitative Data was employed using pre-tested structured questionnaire while the qualitative data was collected using FGD. Data obtained from primary sources were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21.Binary logistic regression was used to assess the possible association between the dependent and independent variable at 95% confidence interval p value <=0.05. Results: Among the study participant mothers, 70.25% of respondents visit at least one ANC visit during their last child pregnancy and only 29.75%, respondents received four and above ANC visit and 27.5% of respondents do not receive such care. This study has shown lower than the EDHS 2016 report 32 percent in Ethiopia and 56.5 Tigray regions, percent of mothers received the recommended four numbers of ANC visit. Educational level, at AOR=7.072 (3.002-16.663) and (13.2 (4.318-40.387), distance AOR= 10.38 (4.24 -25.4), intended pregnancy AOR=2.043 (1.009-4.137) and marital status AOR=.354(.162-.773) were significantly associated with ANC Service utilization in the study area. Conclusion: This study confirmed low ANC service utilization as compared to the WHO recommended at least four ANC visits during pregnancy. The main reason for not attending ANC service was due to long distance to the institution, workload, being in state of good health. Availability of infrastructure and improve opportunity of women in education will enhance utilization of ANC service.