| dc.description.abstract | Introduction: Antenatal care service utilization is a component of maternal health that is essential not only for the mother but also for the baby before and after birth. That is why the ministry of health, Lamwo district local government, and humanitarian partners in Parabek refugee settlement camp have invested heavily in ANC. Infrastructure, human resources and supplies have been put in place to ensure that mothers in the settlement camp attend recommended ANC visits. Despite all this investment, the utilization of ANC services has been low among women who dwell in Parabek refugee settlement camp in Lamwo district. Upon this background, the study assessed the knowledge of mothers about ANC, the practices of mothers towards ANC and the factors associated with low utilization of ANC service by the pregnant women in Parabek refugee settlement camp.
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive study design employing quantitative methods was used. The data collected was statistically analyzed to understand the quantitative contributions of different factors to ANC service utilization among pregnant mothers in Parabek refugee settlement camp. Scores were given to questions answered adequately to assess knowledge and practices. Using Blooms cut off, those that scored more than 80% were considered knowledgeable while those with a score below that were considered having inadequate knowledge. Scores were given while assessing practices depending on attitude, number of ANC visits made, when the mother- initiated attendance of ANC and whether a mother was planning to give birth in a health facility or not. Factors affecting attendance were determined by subjecting the responses of the mothers to bivariate and multivariate analysis to determine their p values, adjusted Od ratios and confidence intervals.
Results: Generally, the mothers had inadequate knowledge on ANC. The majority of the respondents, (72.8%) had inadequate knowledge on ANC. Much as 61.2% of respondents had attended ANC, there were gaps especially in the number of ANC visits made, period of gestation at which ANC visits were commenced. The major factors that were contributing uptake of ANC service utilization were Mothers level of education up to tertiary level (adjusted p value of 0.001), being employed (adjusted p value of 0.014), being married (adjusted p value of 0.002), multi- parity (adjusted p value of 0.001), having adequate knowledge (adjusted p value of 0.001), and good attitude( with p value of 0.001). Conclusion and recommendations: The study suggested different interventions to improve the utilization of ANC services. These include keeping girl children in school, supporting the mothers with income generating activities, sensitizing the community members on need of ANC so as to increase advocacy for ANC attendance and improving the perceived quality of care that the mothers receive when they go for ANC visits among others | en_US |
