A Study on the Utilization of Antenatal Care Services and its Associated Factors in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal

Background : Maternal and infant mortality still remains very high in developing countries like India. Good quality antenatal care is the key for a healthy pregnancy which ultimately leads to a healthy mother and healthy child. Utilization of antenatal care again depends on various sociodemographic factors and the following study was done with the objective to find out the sociodemographic determinants of utilization of antenatal care services. Materials and Methods : A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in the obstetrics inpatient ward of KPC Medical College and Hospital from May to August 2019. The study population included 289 full-term antenatal mothers and recently delivered women. A pre-designed and pre-tested schedule was used for data collection. Information were collected regarding various sociodemographic characteristics and antenatal care components. The data collected were analyzed using proportions and Chi-square tests. Statistical software SPSS 16 was used for analysis. Results : About 58.5% of the women had their pregnancies registered in the first trimester (≤12 weeks), 38.8% had 4 or more antenatal visits, 79.2% had complete immunization with tetanus toxoid vaccine, 64.7% of women had taken iron folic acid tablets for 6 months or more, and only 23.5% of women received full antenatal care. Full antenatal care was received more in 20–24 years age group, mothers belonging to Muslim religion, mothers from joint family, mothers belonging to Class 5 socioeconomic status, mothers who have studied up to higher secondary level and above, and housewives and women with parity ≥3. Significant association was found between full antenatal care and age, religion, socioeconomic status, education, and parity ( P < 0.005). Conclusions : Full utilization of antenatal services is quite low. Health education and IEC activities regarding the importance of antenatal care is of utmost importance for addressing this problem. Key words : Antenatal visits, full antenatal care, IEC, iron folic acid, tetanus toxoid