Antenatal care attendance, intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy, and malaria knowledge: A cross-sectional study in government and private district hospitals
Ghana has made significant strides in maternal health care under the National Health Insurance Scheme, but more effort is required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.1 target of fewer than 70 maternal deaths/100,000 live births, down from the current rate of 308 maternal deaths/100,000 live births. This study aimed to explore knowledge about antenatal care (ANC), antenatal attendance, malaria, and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) among pregnant women from two high malaria endemic areas: Mafi-Adidome (a rural community) visiting Adidome Government Hospital and Battor Dugame (a rural-urban community) visiting Battor Catholic Hospital. A total of 1295 consenting pregnant women participated in the study. Information on sociodemographic characteristics, as well as knowledge about ANC, IPTp, and malaria, were collected via questionnaires. Chi-square tests were used to compare the proportions of variables across the two study sites. A higher proportion of participants at Battor Catholic Hospital (70.8%) showed adequate knowledge about ANC compared to those at Adidome Government Hospital (38.1%) (χ2[7] = 105.11; p < 0.001). In addition, more participants at Battor Catholic Hospital (46.6%) showed adequate knowledge about the timing for IPTp administration compared to those at Adidome Government Hospital (21.1%) (χ2[2] = 83.37; p < 0.001). Although knowledge about malaria was generally low (0–33.3%) at both health centers, a high proportion of participants (>80%) possessed and used mosquito bed nets for malaria prevention. A lower proportion (46.6%) of participants at Battor Catholic Hospital made the WHO-recommended four to seven visits compared to 50.2% of participants at Adidome Government Hospital. Age, marital status, employment, and education influenced the utilization of antenatal and delivery services. Increased sensitization on the importance of ANC and hospital delivery is needed in these study areas.
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