EC Gynaecology

Background: Antenatal care (ANC) is a key intervention to address maternal mortality. ANC helps identify and avoid pregnancy-related problems and saves the lives of mothers and babies. A minimum of eight ANC contacts is recommended to promote healthy motherhood and positive pregnancy outcomes. Despite efforts to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality, ANC use remains low in middle- and low-income countries, including Tanzania.

Objective: This study aimed to determine knowledge and attitudes toward ANC use among pregnant women attending a reproductive health clinic in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Methods: This study used a cross-sectional design to assess pregnant women’s knowledge and attitudes toward the use of ANC and the impact of these factors on ANC use. Data were gathered from 200 pregnant women using self-administered questionnaires. Data were entered, analyzed, and interpreted using SPSS version 25. Chi-square tests were used to examine relationships between categorical variables and ANC use. Binary logistic regression was used to determine predictors of ANC use. P-values of 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results: The findings showed that in terms of women’s sociodemographic characteristics, education, and occupation were statistically significantly associated with ANC use (p = 0.05). There were also statistically significant relationships between ANC use and women’s knowledge (p = 0.00) and attitudes (p = 0.01). Moreover, marital status and residence were significant predictors of ANC use.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates that women’s knowledge, attitudes, occupation, and education status are associated with their ANC use. Marital status and residence are predictors of women’s ANC use. Further research should investigate these relationships across a variety of populations to inform targeted interventions and improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes.

 Keywords: Antenatal Care Contacts; Pregnant Women; Knowledge; Attitude; Service Use

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