Antenatal Care Paradox: Exploring the Gap between Antenatal Care Utilization and Pregnancy Outcome

Background: Antenatal care is the care given to the pregnant women from conception till birth. It is a structured program of observation, education and medical management of pregnant lady aimed at making pregnancy and birth a positive experience.Objective: To find out the association of antenatal care utilization with pregnancy outcomes.Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was done in Obstetrics and Gynaecology department, Nishtar Hospital and Tertiary Care Hospital Nishtar- II, Multan. A sample of 362 women was included using non-probability convenient sampling technique. A questionnaire which included mother’s demographic data, antenatal care utilization data, antepartum complications, postpartum complications and data related to pregnancy outcomes was administered. Results: Among 362 women, mean age was 28.9 ±6.5 % women was among 25-34 years of age. Regarding antenatal care utilization, 136 (37.5%) women had 7 to 10 antenatal visits. 302(83.2%) women had adequate iron and calcium intake. Among 362 women, 87.1 % (316) delivered via cesarean section 12.9% (47) women delivered via spontaneous vaginal delivery. Around 10.7% (39) babies were still born and 324 (89.3%) women delivered alive baby. The variables that impacted the pregnancy outcome (alive or dead) were; number of ANC visits (p<0.001), age of mother (p=0.03) and level of education (p=0.004) and tetanus vaccination (p<0.001) while occupation, area of residency and socioeconomic status have no impact (p>0.05) on pregnancy outcome.Conclusion: Health education about the value of prenatal care, along with the improvement of health facilities particularly in remote areas, will lead to frequent prenatal visits, leading to healthier pregnancy outcomes.