Determinants of Utilization of Antenatal Services by Pregnant adolescents in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality

Abstract

Background Adolescent pregnancy is a global public health concern as it accounts for 11% of all births occurring in low and middle-income countries. In 2013, about 800 women died daily as a result of pregnancy and childbirth related complications. Most complications occurring in pregnancy has teenage pregnancy as a predisposition. Research has shown that, early utilization and periodic Antenatal Care (ANC) attendance is vital in identifying and mitigating risk factors: during pregnancy. According to Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) 3, maternal mortality must be reduced to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births. Objectives: This study sought to evaluate the knowledge of pregnant adolescents on the benefits of using ANC services, identify socio-cultural practices that impact pregnant adolescents' decision on the use of ANC services, evaluate perceptions of pregnant adolescents that prevent them from utilizing ANC services as well as to determine health system factors influencing pregnant adolescents' decision toward the usage of ANC services. Method: This research work adopted a descriptive cross-sectional study using quantitative technique. The study also used face to face interviews with structured questionnaires to collect the data. A total of 373 participants completed the survey. Descriptive statistics was employed to describe the data. Chi-square was used to test for association and regression analysis was performed to determine the strength of the association. All analyses were performed using Stats version 15.0 (Stata Corporation. Texas, USA) Results: the mean age of respondents was 18.2 years with standard deviation of 2.0. Majority of the respondents 348(93.3%) bad knowledge about ANC. About 188 (50.4%) had acquired knowledge about ANC from friends. Respondents said attitude of staff such as stigmatization, delay in attending to them and high cost of ANC services would influence their ANC utilization. From the multiple binary logistics model (Adjusted model), marital status, high ANC fees, delays in attending to clients. TBA influence, adequate knowledge about ANC. ANC services that meet mother's needs and quality of ANC services had significant influence on ANC utilization with a p-value < 0.05 Conclusion: Marital status, educational level and knowledge about ANC influences the pregnant adolescent's decision to utilize or not utilize ANC services. Socio-cultural factors such as beliefs did not influence their utilization but some attitude of staff such as stigmatization, delayed in being attended to, affected their utilization. Perceived barriers likely to prevent pregnant adolescents from utilizing ANC services included high cost for ANC.