The attendance, quality, and related factors among women towards antenatal care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Monrovia, Liberia

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted healthcare systems worldwide, including the provision of antenatal care. This study investigates the attendance, quality, and factors related to antenatal care among pregnant women in Monrovia, Liberia, both before and during the pandemic. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 600 pregnant women who attended antenatal care (ANC) from October 2019 to February 2021 at John F. Kennedy and the E.L.W.A health facilities. The study used a purposive sampling method and collected data from two periods: 2019.10-2020.02 and 2020.11-2021.03. The study collected 600 valid records and used SPSS 25 for statistical analysis. Results: The results showed that the pre-epidemic group had higher rates of high-quality obstetrics than the post-epidemic group. The proportion of women in the pre-epidemic group who achieved high-quality prenatal examinations was 44.9%, higher than that of the post-epidemic group (15.6%). The proportion of women in the pre-epidemic group who received prenatal examinations in public hospitals was 51.0%, lower than the post-epidemic group (66.3%) and private hospitals had a higher rate of pre-epidemic group (49.0%) than the post-epidemic group (23.7%). The study also found that the number of natal examinations and the factors affecting the quality of ANC before and after the epidemic were different. Therefore, the relevant agencies' antenatal care promotion strategies need to make corresponding adjustments after the epidemic. Conclusion: In conclusion, the study highlights the need for optimizing public health education, allocating medical resources rationally, and avoiding ignoring routine health care for pregnant women due to the excessive tilt of medical resources to epidemic prevention and control.