Background: Despite a slew of national programs aimed at improving the health of mothers since independence, limited access to and utilization of modern healthcare is among the primary causes of India’s high maternal death rate.
Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the level of knowledge among reproductive age group women regarding antenatal care (ANC) services, and to find out its utilization and factors affecting them.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 108 women of reproductive age group, in rural field practice area of medical college Kolkata selected through systematic random sampling technique, and interviewed with a pretested, predesigned, semi open-ended questionnaire.
Results: The mean age of 108 respondents studied was (23.87 ± 3.846) years, within a range of (15–31) years. 94.2% of the respondents had done their ANC registration in 1st trimester itself. About 80.6% had adequate knowledge regarding ANC services, 31.1% of them received comprehensive ANC services. Three major reasons for inadequate utilization of ANC services were – unawareness of consequences, lack of proper transport facilities, and lack of support from families. There was significant statistical association between the age, literacy, and type of family of study socioeconomic status of participants with receiving comprehensive ANC services (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: This study showed that the education plays a key role in better utilization of the ANC services. Healthcare workers bears a significant amount of responsibility for raising awareness, supporting, and motivating rural women to trust the health-care system and its ANC services.
Key words: Antenatal Care; Knowledge; Utilization
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