Factors influencing prenatal class attendance among immigrants in Ottawa-Carleton

A longitudinal study, examining predictors of infant care behaviours among 283 immigrants in Ottawa-Carleton, included an analysis of factors predicting prenatal class attendance. On bivariate analysis, significant predictors among primiparas included mother's age and education, official language comprehension ability, average number of years resident in Canada, and current immigration status. Using logistic regression analysis, the odds ratio for prenatal class attendance was 7.36 for mothers with excellent or very good official language comprehension compared with mothers who self-rated their ability as fair or poor. Compared with primiparas who were 35 years or older, young mothers (< 25 years) were less likely to have attended prenatal classes (OR = .28) and mothers aged 30 to 34 years were more likely to have attended (OR = 2.22). Among multiparas, maternal age was the only significant predictor of prenatal class attendance. Findings suggest the need for new approaches to prenatal education for immigrant mothers.