Factors influencing uptake of antenatal care in Taita Taveta County, Kenya

Abstract

Purpose: The general purpose of the study was to establish factors influencing uptake of antenatal care among pregnant women. Methodology: The study was conducted in TaitaTaveta County, Kenya, which had a population of 338,696, with 81,288 women estimated to be of reproductive age, and 9,823 women estimated to be pregnant per year. The county had a total of 60 public health facilities, including 1 public referral hospital, 3 sub-county hospitals, 18 health centres and 38 dispensaries. The total workforce for the public health facilities was 1000 health care providers, including 300 (30%) nurses/midwives, 25 (2.5%) doctors, and 1750 community health volunteers. Data was collected using structured questionnaires for the mothers (n=381) and key informant interview for the in-charges (n=17). Data was analysed using SPSS, version 23. Chi-square and Spearman’s R tests, and categorical regression were used to determine the relationship between uptake of antenatal care and the independent variables. The results were summarized and presented in form of tables, figures and charts. Findings: Results indicated that antenatal care initiation time (R2 = 0.07) had a weak positive influence on uptake of antenatal care, while skilled health providers’ attitudes (R2 = 0.82), availability of community health volunteers (R2 = 0.78), and availability of skilled health providers (R2 = 0.92) had a strong positive influence on uptake of antenatal care.