Prevalence and factors contributing to late antenatal care booking amongst pregnant women in primary health care facilities at Dikgale-Mamabolo Local Area, Limpopo Province

Abstract

Background: Late antenatal care (ANC) booking delays treatment and management of high-risk pregnancies, which may result to maternal deaths. Early ANC booking has been found to be effective in most of the pregnancy related risk factors that can be detected and managed at early stages of pregnancy. Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and factors contributing to late ANC booking amongst pregnant women in primary health care facilities at Dikgale-Mamabolo local area. Methods: Quantitative cross-sectional research approach was used. The study was conducted at Dikgale-Mamabolo local area, which consists of seven clinics at Polokwane, Limpopo province in South Africa. Only three clinics were purposefully selected for the study. The population of the study included pregnant women who were 18 years and above. The sample size consisted of 238 pregnant women who came for ANC services in primary health care facilities during the period of the study. Convenience sampling method was used to select pregnant women from the population. Data was collected using an adapted questionnaire. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPPS) version 25. Results: The results indicated that 86% of pregnant women booked antenatal care before five months gestational age and 14% booked after five months gestational age. Factors contributing to late ANC booking amongst pregnant women were marital status, educational level, employment status, mode of transport to clinic, lack of information, cultural beliefs, long distance to the clinic, long waiting time in the clinic and clinic operating hours. Conclusion: Late ANC booking remains a major public health issue. The study showed that lack of information and cultural beliefs are major contributing factors to late ANC booking. It is recommended that awareness campaigns should be conducted in the community and schools to empower women with knowledge about ANC services.