Abstract:
Objectives: To assess the utilization pattern of antenatal care (ANC) services and factors affecting utilization of these services
among pregnant women of urban slums of Dharwad city. Study design: A cross-sectional study was conducted in urban slums
of Dharwad city and the data was collected by a house-to-house survey to interview all women (n = 482), who delivered
three months prior to the start of the study, using a predesigned and pretested proforma. Data were analyzed by proportions,
Chi-square test and Odds ratio. Results: The mean age of women was 23.59 years. Out of 482 women, 11% were teenage
pregnancies while 56.85% of pregnancies were in the age group of 20-24 years; 67.43% of the subjects were housewives;
33.82% of the women belonged to Class III; 32.16% to Class IV; 77.62% literates had received full ANC package compared
to 37.10% illiterates (χ2 = 44.4020, df = 1, p < 0.001, highly significant, Odds ratio = 5.88); 84.06% women of economic
Class I and II took full antenatal package, followed by 82.82% Class III (χ2 = 45.9080, df = 3, p < 0.001, highly significant).
Conclusion: Better utilization of antenatal services is seen among literate women of higher socioeconomic group. As antenatal
registrations occur later in pregnancy there is need to emphasize on early registration and regular follow-up during pregnancy
for a safer and better outcome.
