Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Timing of First Antenatal Care (ANC) and Inequalities in Early Initiation of ANC in Nepal.

BACKGROUND: The provision and uptake of quality and timely antenatal care (ANC) is an essential element of efforts to improve health outcomes for women and newborn babies. Antenatal consultations assist in early identification and treatment of complications during pregnancy. This study aimed to provide an information on distribution and inequalities in early initiation of ANC in Nepal.

METHODS: The distribution and inequalities in the early initiation of ANC were examined using Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys 2011. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to assess inequalities.

FINDINGS: Overall, 70% of the women had started their first ANC at 4 month or earlier. Among participants who had never attended school, just more than half (52%) received first ANC at 4 months or earlier, while majority of participants (97%) who had received higher education received first ANC at recommended time. Similarly, 89% of those from richest quintile and 48% of those from poorest quintile received first ANC at recommended time. In adjusted analysis, women from richest wealth quintile were significantly more likely to initiate ANC early (AOR: 3.74, 95% CI: 2.31-6.05) compared to the poorest. Similarly, women with higher level education were significantly more likely (AOR: 11.40, 95% CI: 5.05-25.73) to initiate ANC early compared to women who had never attended school. A significantly lower odds of early ANC take up was observed among madhesi other caste (AOR: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.35-0.90) compared to brahmin/chhetri women. Women whose pregnancy was unwanted were significantly less likely to attend first ANC at 4 months or early (AOR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.58-0.93) in comparison to women whose pregnancy was wanted.

CONCLUSION: The differences in the recommended timing of initiation of ANC were evident among women with different educational, economic levels, and caste/ethnic groups. Rural women were less likely to have checkups as per guidelines. The findings suggest to a need of interventions to raise female education and improve economic status of households. Targeted interventions suitable to local context and culture are equally important. Increasing access to family planning methods and reduction of unwanted pregnancy can promote early ANC take up.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app