Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice toward Antenatal Care among Pregnant Women in Rural Andhra Pradesh: A Cross-sectional Study

Timely and quality prenatal care is a critical determinant in the prevention of maternal mortality.Consequently, it is necessary to identify the causal factors due to which women are likely to miss receiving comprehensive ANC care during their pregnancy.Having this knowledge can aid in building focused and successful and effective public health programs. 9,10 IntroductIonAntenatal care (ANC) or prenatal care is the healthcare that is given to pregnant mothers for confirmation and tracking of the progress of their pregnancy.This enables mothers in promoting their prepared childbirth and obstetric emergency preparedness to ensure optimal birth outcomes for both the mother and her newborn. 1The primary goal of ANC is to ensure that every pregnancy results in the birth of a healthy baby while causing no harm to the mother's health.This is achievable to a significant degree if the expectant mothers have good knowledge, attitude, and practice of ANC.Appropriate and adequate ANC is one of the core elements of the Safe Motherhood initiative by World Health Organization (WHO), aimed at providing maternal healthcare that will lead to successful pregnancy outcomes and healthy babies.This will ultimately bring down the morbidity and mortality associated with pregnancy and childbirth. [2][3]][4] Adequate health knowledge entitles pregnant women to be mindful of their health status and the necessity of receiving essential ANC. 2,5Poor awareness has often resulted in neglect of ANC services among women living in rural India.Poverty, low education, ignorance, and cultural traits are some of the other contributing factors.