Factors affecting utilization of Antenatal Care among women in urban slum areas of Islamabad.

Objective: To identify the factors affecting the utilization of antenatal care among married women of reproductive age at two urban slum areas in Islamabad. Methods: A Cross-sectional survey was carried out between October 2003 and April 2004 in two urban squatter settlements of Islamabad. Two hundred married women in the age range 15-49 years were interviewed. Socio-demographic characteristics of women who received and who did not receive antenatal care in their previous pregnancy were assessed by bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Antenatal care used in any of the previous pregnancy among women under study was 151(75.5%). Among the non-users, 37(75.5%) of women cited ignorance about the importance of antenatal care, 9(18.4%) said that antenatal care facility was far away, 3(6.1%) said that they could not get permission from home to go to the antenatal care facility. Education of wife (adjusted p=0.005) and education of husband (adjusted p=0.006) were significantly associated with utilization of antenatal care. Conclusions: Utilization of antenatal care facilities is associated with educational status of women and their husbands. Benefits of antenatal care should be widely disseminated in the community. (Rawal Med J 2004;29:71-75)