Determinants of late initiation for antenatal care follow up: the case of northern Ethiopian pregnant women

OBJECTIVE: Early antenatal care follow-up is the main strategy of preventing pregnancy related adverse outcomes; in which World Health Organization recommends first antenatal care visit should be offered within the first trimester. However, Low utilization and late booking is the predominant problem in most developing countries including Ethiopia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of late initiation for antenatal care follow-up and associated factors among pregnant women. Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 pregnant mothers using systematic sampling technique. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed at the level of significance of p-value ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The findings showed 59.4% of pregnant women started their first visit after first trimester. Having age ≥ 25 years (AOR = 1.62, CI 1.1, 2.49), recognition of pregnancy by missed period (AOR = 2.54 CI 1.63, 3.96), pregnant mother who were not advised to start antenatal-care (AOR = 3.36, CI 1.74, 6.5) and primary educational level (AOR = 2.22, CI 1.16, 4.25) were found to be significantly associated with late initiation for antenatal care. The prevalence of late antenatal care follow-up is high. Multidisciplinary approaches to keep empowering women through education are recommended for early initiation of antenatal care.