Abstract:
Background: Little is known about antenatal care utilisation difference among food secure and
food insecure household pregnant women and factors contributing to inequities in antenatal care
use in Gombora woreda Hadiya zone south Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to identify the
disparities in the utilization of ANC that exists between pregnant women in food secure and food
insecure household women
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from Feb 25 to March 25,
2015 in Gombora woreda, Hadiya zone, South Ethiopia. Structured questionnaire was used for
data collection. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were
conducted. Statistical tests were done at a level of significance of p < 0.05
Results: Of 796 sampled mothers, data were collected from 774 mothers giving a response rate
of 97%. Two hundred sixty seven (34.5%) of the respondents had at least one antenatal care visit
on current pregnancy. 49.1% of food secure and 23.3% of food insecure household women
utilized ANC from health professionals. The odds of antenatal care use were 2.54(95% CI: 1.79-
3.59, p < 0.001) times higher among women from food secure household pregnant women than
those from food insecure. The odds of antenatal care use among women with secondary or
higher education was 3. 76(95% CI: 2.32-6.1, p < 0.001) times higher when compared with
women of no education. The odds of antenatal care use were 2.42(95%CI 1.348-4.334, p <
0.003) times higher among women with good knowledge than poor knowledge women.
Moreover, the odds of use among women from the richest households were 2.10(95% CI: 1.347-
3.286, p < 0.001) times higher compared with their counterparts from the poorest households.
Furthermore, this study showed a significant variation in the use of ANC in food secure and food
insecure household pregnant women.
Conclusions: The disparities in antenatal care utilization among food secure and food
insecure households, across economic and educational levels highlight the need to put more
attention to food insecure household’s pregnant women. In addition further study suggested
understanding additional factors for the low antenatal utilization among food secure and
insecure household pregnant women in Gombora Woreda, Hadiya Zone, South Ethiopia
