Determinants of late antenatal care attendance among high parity women in Uganda: analysis of the 2016 Uganda demographic and health survey.

Background: Timely and adequate Antenatal Care (ANC) effectively prevents adverse pregnancy outcomes and is crucial for decreasing maternal and neonatal mortality. High-parity women (5 + children) are at higher risk of maternal mortality. Limited information on the late timing of ANC among this risky group continues to hamper Uganda's efforts to reduce maternal mortality ratios and improve infant and child survival. This study aimed to determine factors associated with attendance of the first ANC after 12 weeks of gestation among high-parity women in Uganda.

Methods: This study was based on nationally representative data from the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey. The study sample comprised 5,266 women (aged 15-49) with five or more children. A complementary log-log regression model was used to identify factors associated with late ANC attendance among high-parity women in Uganda.

Results: Our findings showed that 73% of high parity women delayed seeking their first ANC visit. Late ANC attendance among high-parity women was associated with distance to the health facility, living with a partner, partner's education, delivery in a health facility, and Desire for more children. Women who did not find the distance to the health facility when going for medical help to be a big problem had increased odds of attending ANC late compared to women who found distance a big problem (AOR = 1.113, CI: 1.004-1.234), women not living with partners (AOR = 1.196, 95% CI = 1.045-1.370) having had last delivery in a health facility (AOR = 0.812, 95% CI = 0.709-0.931), and women who desired to have another child (AOR = 0.887, 95% CI = 0.793-0.993) had increased odds compared to their counterparts.

Conclusions: To increase mothers' timely attendance and improve maternal survival among high-parity women in Uganda, programs could promote and strengthen health facility delivery and integrate family planning with other services such as ANC and postnatal care education to enable women to seek antenatal care within the recommended first trimester. This study calls for increased support for programs for education, sensitization, and advocacy for health facility-based deliveries. This could be done through strengthened support for VHT and community engagement activities.

(© 2024. The Author(s).)