Knowledge and determinants of utilization of antenatal care services among adolescent mothers in Luuka district

Abstract

Antenatal care is linked to improved reproductive health outcomes for both mother and baby. However, its low utilization among adolescent mothers implies that many of these mothers, including their newborns, in a district like Luuka where the teenage childbearing rates stand high at 18.1% among girls aged 12-19 years face an increased risk of complications during and after delivery. Information on ANC utilization among adolescent mothers specifically remains limited in Uganda. Therefore, this study sought to examine adolescent mothers’ knowledge on ANC and what determines their use of ANC; where use of ANC is measured by timing of the first ANC visit.

The study used quantitative data from 248 adolescent mothers aged 10-19 years in Luuka district, Eastern Uganda. For inclusion into the study, adolescent mothers who were either pregnant or had infants aged 0-3 months were selected. Binary logistic regression modeling approach was employed to identify the determinants of timing of first ANC visit.

This study found that the majority of the adolescent mothers (82%) attended ANC for their most recent pregnancy. Of these, approximately four out of ten (47%) made the first ANC visit in the first trimester. More than half (55%) of adolescent mothers do not know when folic acid intake should begin. Furthermore, the determinants of timing of the first ANC visit were having knowledge on dangers signs in pregnancy (aOR= 2.89, CI: 1.04 – 8.06), mother’s age (aOR= 2.13, CI: 1.01 – 4.46), partner’s age (aOR= 4.34, CI: 1.06 – 17.71), having ever given birth (aOR= 0.27, CI: 0.12 – 0.6), decision maker on health care (aOR= 0.3, CI: 0.09 – 0.96) and daily earnings (aOR= 3.93, CI: 1.53 – 10.09).

This study concludes that since a knowledge gap on certain ANC aspects is evident among adolescent mothers coupled with non/low adherence to the recommended timing of first ANC contact, adolescent girls who fall victim to pregnancy are at a heightened risk of associated complications. Therefore, there is a need for deliberate efforts to equip adolescent girls with health information on, as established by this study, for example, pregnancy danger signs, among others. There is also a need to empower adolescent girls in the district to start income-generating activities through which they can earn money for health care support, among other needs.