Experience of Pregnant Women Regarding Quality of Antenatal Care in Remote Districts of Nepal

Author : Saraswoti Kumari Gautam Bhattarai, AP Dr Wahid Abdullah Wajih, Prof Dr Sarala Pradhan Joshi

Abstract :Background: Receiving quality antenatal care is crucial, leading to positive outcomes for mothers and newborns. Providing high-quality antenatal care is the most efficient way to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality. Therefore, this study aimed to find out the experience regarding the quality of antenatal care of pregnant women. Methods: A facility-based descriptive study was conducted among 406 pregnant women in Jumla. A simple random sampling technique was adopted and semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect the data. Both low-risk and high-risk pregnant women who were willing to participate and attend antenatal clinics in the third trimester were included in the study. Ethical approval was obtained from concerned authorities. Subsequently, written informed consent was obtained from pregnant women before the data collection. A face-to-face interview was conducted using questionnaires in simple Nepali language. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results: Among 406 pregnant women; 78.1% were from 20 to 35 years of age group, 62.8% were from Brahman/ Chhetri ethnic group, 93.6% followed Hindu religion, 60.1% belonged to joint and extended families, 90.8% were literate, 58.4% followed agriculture as their occupation and 44.6% were primiparous, Overall experience of good quality antenatal care was 70.7% whereas experience of poor quality was 29.3%. Regarding the different aspects of quality of antenatal care; 76.8% experienced good-quality antenatal examination, 83.5% experienced good-quality antenatal care, 52.5% experienced good-quality antenatal counselling and education, and 71.2% experienced good quality service provision aspects at the antenatal clinic. A significant association existed between income status and antenatal care aspect (P-value 0.025) at the <0.05 P-value level. There was no association with other socio-demographic variables. Conclusions: Although more than two-thirds of pregnant women experienced overall good quality antenatal care, about half experienced poor quality antenatal counselling and education. So, it is recommended that healthcare institutions should emphasize counseling and education to enhance the quality of antenatal care.

Keywords :Antenatal care; Experience, Quality of antenatal care; Pregnant women.

Conference Name :International Conference on Community-Based Healthcare and Primary Healthcare (ICCBHPH-24)

Conference Place Pattaya, Thailand

Conference Date 24th Sep 2024