Late Antenatal Booking at a Teaching Hospital in the South-South Region of Nigeria: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Late booking for antenatal care (ANC) limits the opportunities to identify complications and plan interventions to ensure safe delivery. Objectives: To determine factors associated with gestational age at the time of ANC booking. Setting: Delta State University Teaching Hospital, Oghara, Nigeria. Design: This cross-sectional study used a retrospective review of medical records. Methods: Information on sociodemographic characteristics, obstetric and medical histories, and maternal and fetal outcomes was extracted. The data analysis included descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results: A total of 220 pregnant women’s files were reviewed. The mean maternal age was 31.6 years. Most were married (90.5%), had attained tertiary education (76.4%), and were multigravida (80.4%). The most common medical problems were pregnancy-induced hypertension/pre-eclampsia (10.3%) and gestational diabetes (6.0%). The mean gestational age at the time of ANC booking was 28.2 weeks, with only 27.1% of participants having booked before 20 weeks. The mean number of ANC visits was 6.16. Participants who were booked at >20 weeks of gestation were significantly more likely to be older (p = 0.000), married (p = 0.002), and multiparous (p = 0.000). In the final regression model, being multiparous was the only factor independently associated with booking after 20 weeks of gestation [odds ratio (OR) = 5.6 (1.6–19.9); p < 0.01]. Conclusion: Late ANC booking is very common among pregnant women attending DELSUTH and calls for interventions targeting multiparous women. Qualitative studies that provide a deep understanding of this behavior may inform the nature and implementation of such interventions