AUTHOR=Tariku Mandaras , Tusa Biruk Shalmeno , Weldesenbet Adisu Birhanu , Bahiru Nebiyu , Enyew Daniel Berhanie 

TITLE=More Than One-Third of Pregnant Women in Ethiopia Had Dropped Out From Their ANC Follow-Up: Evidence From the 2019 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Global Women's Health

VOLUME=Volume 3 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/global-womens-health/articles/10.3389/fgwh.2022.893322

DOI=10.3389/fgwh.2022.893322

ISSN=2673-5059

ABSTRACT=Background; In Ethiopia, the magnitude of antenatal care (ANC) practice and institutional delivery is low as compared with the developed countries. The majority of the pregnant women have not completed their ANC follow up, and only 43% of women have reached for the four and above ANC. This study was conducted to determine the magnitude of ANC dropout and associated factors among pregnant women in Ethiopia.  
Methods: Secondary data analysis was conducted using the Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey 2019 (EMDHS 2019). The sample was selected using a stratified, two-staged cluster sampling design, and the data was analyzed using binary logistic regression model to identify factors associated with ANC dropout. Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) with 95% CI were reported to declare significance and strength of association. A total weighted sample of 2,143 women who had antenatal care follow up during pregnancy was included. In multivariable logistic regression, variables having p-value <0.05 were considered as having significant association with ANC dropout.    
Result: The magnitude of ANC dropout was 39.12 % [95% CI: 37.07%, 41.20%] among women who had ANC follow up in Ethiopia. Aged 30-49 years [AOR=0.71; 95% CI: (0.54, 0.94)], attended primary [AOR=0.79; 95% CI: (0.62, 0.99)], secondary[AOR=0.63; 95% CI: (0.44, 0.87)] and higher education [AOR=0.39; 95% CI: (0.25, 0.62)], were in first trimesters [AOR=0.49; 95% CI: (0.40, 0.60)] at the time of first ANC visit, and had access to laboratory service [AOR=0.25; 95% CI: (0.13, 0.51)] were found to be a negative significant associated factors of ANC dropouts whereas being rural resident [AOR=1.53; 95% CI: (1.11, 2.10)] have a positive significant association with ANC dropouts.
Conclusion: More than one-third of the pregnant women in Ethiopia had dropped out from their ANC follow-up in the study period. Being old aged, educated and urban resident, having first ANC visit at first trimester, and having access to laboratory service were negatively associated with ANC dropouts. Therefore, we recommended encouraging women to have ANC visit at an early stage of pregnancy and conducting basic laboratory investigation during their visit. When undertaking that, due attention should be given for young, uneducated and rural dweller women