Adolescent girls’ and young mothers’ knowledge and use of antenatal care in the Ahafo Region, Ghana: A cross-sectional study

African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Adolescent girls’ and young mothers’ knowledge and use of antenatal care in the Ahafo Region, Ghana: A cross-sectional study
 
Creator Tabiri, Joseph Adzordor, Patience Bawontuo, Vitalis Ziblim, Shamsu-Deen Mchunu, Gugu G. Pillay, Julian D. Kuupiel, Desmond
 
Subject Reproductive health; maternal and child health; family medicine; primary care adolescents; young women; mothers; women; pregnancy care; awareness; use; antenatal care
Description Background: Antenatal care (ANC) is crucial to reducing maternal and neonatal deaths, but few studies examined adolescent girls’ and young women’s ANC utilisation and knowledge in Ghana.Aim: To assess adolescents’ and young mothers’ knowledge of ANC, utilisation and factors influencing its use in Ghana.Setting: Tano North Municipality, Ahafo Region.Methods: This community-based, cross-sectional study involved 440 adolescent and young mothers (between 10 and 24 years). A structured questionnaire was employed to collect data face-to-face. Descriptive and statistical analyses were performed, and p  0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Of the 440 respondents, most were aged 20–24 years (61.2%), married (30.0%), Christians (78.2%), completed junior high school (JHS) (47.8%) and traders (38.9%). Postnatal mothers were 71.6% (315), and all had utilised ANC services. Antenatal care knowledge was good among 75% (330) respondents, with no significant variation by age. Religion influenced knowledge, with Muslims having lower knowledge. Antenatal care utilisation was high ( 50%) among those aged 15–19 years, married, Christians, JHS graduates and traders. Age, marital status and employment type significantly influenced ANC utilisation. Individuals in the age group 15–19 years and married women demonstrated higher odds of utilising ANC services. Casual workers and unemployed respondents were found to have lower odds of utilising ANC services compared to traders.Conclusion: Age, marital status, and employment type influenced ANC utilisation in the Ahafo Region. Adolescent mothers under 15 years had lower rates, requiring targeted interventions to improve pregnancy outcomes.Contribution: This study highlights the knowledge and factors influencing ANC use in Ahafo Region and adds to the existing research evidence on ANC.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2024-07-09
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Cross-sectional study
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/phcfm.v16i1.4259
 
Source African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine; Vol 16, No 1 (2024); 10 pages 2071-2936 2071-2928
 
Language eng
 
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The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4259/7328 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4259/7329 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4259/7330 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4259/7332 https://phcfm.org/index.php/phcfm/article/view/4259/7331
 
Coverage Ghana, Ahafo Region, Tano North Municipal — 10-24 years, Females
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Joseph Tabiri, Patience Adzordor, Vitalis Bawontuo, Shamsu-Deen Ziblim, Gugu G. Mchunu, Julian D. Pillay, Desmond Kuupiel https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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