Maternal factors associated with inadequate antenatal contacts in the central hospital of Yaoundé, Cameroon.

BACKGROUND: Despite a minimum of eight Antenatal Contacts (ANCs) recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2016 to improve birth outcomes, many pregnant women, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, are unable to attend the required number of visits. This study aimed to examine maternal factors associated with Inadequate ANC (IANC) in the Central Hospital of Yaoundé (CHY). METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed from June 8th to August 07th 2021. The study recruited women who had given birth in the CHY within 24 h prior to the inclusion date. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used for the comparison of proportions. Logistic regression was used to determine maternal factors associated with IANCs. All statistical analyses were performed using Epi Info version 7.0. Any p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Overall, 200 participants were enrolled of whom 141 (70.5%) had IANCs. The mean age (standard deviation) was 28.0 (± 6.7) years. Women who delivered before 40 weeks of gestation were 10.6 times more likely to experience IANC compared to those of at least 40 weeks [95%CI: 1.2-92.4, p < 0.001]. Additionally, women referred for care were 5.4 times more likely to have IANC compared to those unreferred [95%CI: 2.2-12.9, p < 0.001], while unmarried women were 2.5 times more likely to have IANC compared to those married [95%CI: 1.2-5.4, p < 0.001]. CONCLUSION: We found a high prevalence of IANCs in the CHY, driven mostly by women who delivered before 40 weeks of gestation. Addressing IANC risk factors at a national level is critical to substantially eliminating preventable preterm birth and maternal mortality as envisaged in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.