Assessing an association between utilization of focused antenatal care services and low birthweight at Zomba Central Hospital in Zomba District, Malawi
Abstract
The prevalence of low birthweight in Malawi stands at 12.1% and is
relatively higher compared to other countries in the sub-Saharan region (1). Reproductive
health policies and promotion of adequate maternal health initiatives were put in place to
encourage adequate antenatal care utilization in Malawi as one way of reducing low birth
weight. Antenatal care (ANC) is the care provided by skilled health-care professionals to
pregnant women and adolescent girls in order to ensure the best health conditions for both
mother and baby during pregnancy (2).The traditional antenatal model of care was initially
introduced by the WHO and was later replaced by focused antenatal care (FANC) in 2002.The
focused antenatal care had four mean visits which antenatal mothers were advised to comply.
The focused antenatal care was instituted in an attempt to overcome the challenges posed by
the traditional antenatal model of care such as classifying pregnant women into high risk or
low risk group based on pre-identified criteria, and the possibility of the low risk group
developing complications at delivery (3).Recently, WHO has extended recommendations for
more comprehensive coverage of antenatal interventions with up to eight contacts for
additional components of care (4) , but in Malawi and many Africa countries in the sub-Saharan
region, the challenge remains to achieve the earlier standard of four ANC visits. Globally,
during the period 2007–2014, only 64% of pregnant women attended the WHO-recommended
minimum four contacts for ANC, suggesting that much more work needs to be done to address
ANC utilization and quality (2).In Malawi, the national coverage of first trimester of the WHOrecommended
minimum four contacts for ANC is at 12%.The study therefore aims to establish
an association that exist between number of antenatal contacts and low birthweight at Zomba
to improve early child development and reduce neonatal deaths in Zomba District, Malawi.
Description
Keywords
Retrospective cohort study