Factors Related the Delay of the First Antenatal Care in Chumphae Hospital, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand

Abstract

The objective of this research was to identify factors related to late attendance for the first antenatal care (ANC) among pregnant women who attended the services at Chumphae hospital, Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. It was an analytical cross-sectional study. The samples were 211 pregnant women with attendance of the first antenatal care during April and June 2020. The research instrument was a questionnaire for collecting data on demographic, behavioral, environmental, socio-economic, history of pregnancy factors and the reasons for late ANC attendance. The data were analyzed by using percentage, mean, standard deviation and multiple logistic regression. It was found that 57.35% of the pregnant women were late attendants for the antenatal care. The mean gestational age of the samples was 14.66±4.74 weeks. The reasons for late ANC were unaware of pregnancy (42.46%), being busy (12.8%), and long distance between hospital and the residence (9%). The factors affecting the late attendance of the first ANC were the age of the pregnant woman, the number of pregnancies, and unawareness of pregnancy; and the 3 parameters altogether were able to predict up to 40% of the delayed attendances. Furthermore, the factors found to be significantly associated with the delayed ANC visits were the number of pregnancies and the unawareness of pregnancy (p<0.05). Based on the study results, it is recommended that health service facilities should be proactive in searching for pregnant women through the enhancement of communication and education of the pregnant women on the correct understanding and proper attitude regarding antenatal care, as well as the awareness on the importance of antenatal care within the first 12 weeks of gestation.