Association between achieving adequate antenatal care and health-seeking behaviors: A study of Demographic and Health Surveys in 47 low- and middle-income countries

Authors

Boshen Jiao, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Isabelle Iversen, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Ryoko Sato, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Clint Pecenka, PATH, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Sadaf Khan, PATH, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Ranju Baral, PATH, Seattle, Washington, United States of America.
Margaret E. Kruk, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Catherine Arsenault, Department of Global Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States of America.
Stéphane Verguet, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

7-1-2024

Journal

PLoS medicine

Volume

21

Issue

7

DOI

10.1371/journal.pmed.1004421

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Antenatal care (ANC) is essential for ensuring the well-being of pregnant women and their fetuses. This study models the association between achieving adequate ANC and various health and health-seeking indicators across wealth quintiles in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). METHODS AND FINDINGS: We analyzed data from 638,265 women across 47 LMICs using available Demographic and Health Surveys from 2010 to 2022. Via multilevel logistic regression analyses adjusted for a series of confounding variables and country and wealth quintile fixed effects, we estimated the projected impact of achieving adequate ANC utilization and quality on a series of health and health care indicators: facility birth, postnatal care, childhood immunizations, and childhood stunting and wasting. Achieving adequate levels of ANC utilization and quality (defined as at least 4 visits, blood pressure monitoring, and blood and urine testing) was positively associated with health-seeking behavior across the majority of countries. The strongest association was observed for facility birth, followed by postnatal care and child immunization. The strength of the associations varied across countries and wealth quintiles, with more significant ones observed in countries with lower baseline ANC utilization levels and among the lower wealth quintiles. The associations of ANC with childhood stunting and wasting were notably less statistically significant compared to other indicators. Despite rigorous adjustments for potential confounders, a limitation to the methodology is that it is possible that unobserved variables may still impact outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Strengthening ANC is associated with improved use of other health care in LMICs. ANC could serve as a critical platform for improving health outcomes for mothers and their children, emphasizing its importance beyond direct impact on maternal and neonatal mortality.

APA Citation

Jiao, Boshen; Iversen, Isabelle; Sato, Ryoko; Pecenka, Clint; Khan, Sadaf; Baral, Ranju; Kruk, Margaret E.; Arsenault, Catherine; and Verguet, Stéphane, "Association between achieving adequate antenatal care and health-seeking behaviors: A study of Demographic and Health Surveys in 47 low- and middle-income countries" (2024). GW Authored Works. Paper 5318.
https://hsrc.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/gwhpubs/5318

Department

Global Health