Factors influencing the utilisation of antenatal care content in Uganda

Uganda records an inadequate utilisation of antenatal care programmes. The study set out to investigate the factors associated with the use of antenatal care content to inform policy makers of the pertinent factors that need to be influenced by policy.

Data for the study was taken from a nationally representative Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) 2006. The study employed both descriptive and community fixed effects approaches to examine the factors associated with the use of antenatal care content in Uganda.

On average, only 16% of women used the full content of antenatal care. Only 12% of women had a urine sample taken, 28% a blood sample taken, and 53% their blood pressure measured. Almost two-thirds of women (63%) took iron supplements, 77% had their weight measured, and 27% were given drugs for intestinal parasites. The utilisation of the content of care was significantly associated with education of the mother and her partner, wealth status, location disparities, timing and frequency of antenatal visits, nature of facility visited, access to media, family planning, and utilisation of professional care.

Efforts are needed to educate girls beyond secondary level, establish village outreach clinics with qualified staff to attract the hard to reach women in the rural areas, and facilitate antenatal care utilisation irrespective of the ability to pay.