Factors associated with Women’s timing of first antenatal care visit during their last pregnancy: evidence from 2016 Uganda demographic health survey

BACKGROUND: Utilization of antenatal care services (ANC) during pregnancy has been recognized as a major public health intervention to abate maternal morbidity and mortality. Uganda has experienced high levels of maternal morbidity and mortality over the past two decades. This could be partly attributed to the lower proportion of women who initiated their first antenatal care visit during the first trimester of their gestation period. This study aimed at investigating the factors associated with timing of first ANC visit by women in Uganda. METHOD: This study used secondary data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS). The study population comprises of women aged 15–49 who reported to have given their last birth during the five years preceding the 2016 UDHS survey. The outcome variable for this study was the timing of first ANC visit. Univariate, bivariate, and multilevel binary logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with the utilization of timing of first ANC visit. RESULTS: Findings show that only 30% [95%CI; 0.28–0.31] of women utilized ANC during the first trimester. Women of higher parity (4+) were less likely to utilize ANC in the first trimester compared to the lower parity (1) (AOR, 0.74, CI; 0.60–0.92). Women who reside in communities with good access to health facility were more likely to utilize ANC during the first trimester as compared to women residing in communities inaccessible to health facility (AOR, 1.36, CI; 1.04–1.77). Women who reside in less diverse ethnic communities were less likely to utilize ANC in the first trimester compared to their counterparts (AOR, 0.15, CI; 0.11–0.22). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that contextual factors are important predictors of utilization of ANC during the first trimester apart from individual, factors. It is thus important for maternal health programme interventions to consider both individual and contextual factors when encouraging women to utilize ANC services during the first trimester.