“If we miss this chance, it’s futile later on” – late antenatal booking and its determinants in Bhutan
A mixed-methods study
Abstract
Background
To achieve the Sustainable Development Goal related to maternal and neonatal outcomes, the World Health Organization advocates for a first antenatal care (ANC) contact before 12 weeks of gestation. In order to guide interventions to achieve early ANC in the lower middle-income setting of Bhutan, we conducted an assessment of the magnitude and determinants of late ANC in this context
Methods
This was a mixed-methods study with quantitative (cross-sectional study) and qualitative (in-depth interviews with pregnant women and ANC providers) component in a concurrent triangulation design. The quantitative component retrospectively analysed the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, and the gestational age at booking of women who were provided care for delivery or miscarriages at the three tertiary hospitals in Bhutan from May–August 2018. The qualitative component involved thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with ten women attending ANC visits and four healthcare workers involved in ANC provision.
This research was supported by the UK Department for International Development’s Operational Research Capacity Building Programme led by the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease (The Union)
Citation
Dorji T, Das M, Van den Bergh R, Oo MM, Gyamtsho S, Tenzin K, Tshomo T, Ugen S. “If we miss this chance, it’s futile later on” – late antenatal booking and its determinants in Bhutan: a mixed-methods study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2019;19(1):158.