Maternal Pregnancy Intention and Antenatal Care Seeking Behaviors in Bangladesh: Evidence From Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2018

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between pregnancy intention and antenatal care (ANC)-seeking behaviors among women in Bangladesh.Methods: ANC-related data of 5,012 women, from the 2018 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), who had a live birth within 3 years preceding the survey were analyzed in the study. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the association of pregnancy intention with ANC utilization.Results: Approximately one-fifth (20.9%) of the women had unintended pregnancy. Among all the women, 40.4% received their first ANC visit within the first three months of pregnancies, 47% had at least four ANC visits, 26.1% received all the components of ANC services, and 22.2% received an adequate dosage of supplementary iron-folic acid tablets/syrup. Women with unintended pregnancy were less likely to receive their first ANC visit within the first 3 months, four or more ANC visits, and all ANC services than those with intended pregnancy.Conclusion: Unintended pregnancy was inversely associated with the proper utilization of ANC among women in Bangladesh. Appropriate measures to reduce unintended pregnancy might foster the utilization of optimum antenatal care.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the association between pregnancy intention and antenatal care-seeking behaviors among women in Bangladesh. Through analyzing the ANC-related data of 5,012 women from the 2018 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the association of pregnancy intention with ANC utilization. The study found that approximately one-fifth (20.9%) of the women had unintended pregnancy, and women with unintended pregnancy were less likely to engage in proper ANC utilization compared to those with intended pregnancy.