Comparison of Pregnant Ladies with and without Antenatal Care Booking and its Effect on Maternal and Fetal outcome

Abstract

Early Antenatal Care (ANC) introduction and frequent visits lead to favorable mother and fetal outcomes. Pregnant women who attend ANC experience much lower morbidity and mortality rates than those who do not. A cross-sectional study was conducted among women in an age group of 20-40 years who delivered at Jinnah International and Women and Children Hospital Abbottabad from March till August 2024. Women were selected through convenience sampling and interviewed through a self-structured questionnaire. 100 women were recruited with a mean age group of 20-40 years. Out of which 57% of the women received ANC while 43% did not. Antenatal care was significantly associated with better maternal and fetal outcome (p=0.015 and p=0.000) respectively. There was no statistical association between age (p=0.239) and mother’s education (p=0.128) on maternal outcome while iron/folic acid intake (p=0.000) and pregnancy complications (p=0.013) showed a positive association with maternal outcome. In the case of fetal outcome, decreased fetal movements (p=0.003) showed an association with poor outcome while time of delivery (p=0.015) and availability of transport (p=0.000) showed an association with poor fetal outcome. It was concluded that un-booked pregnant females are at a greater risk of adverse fetal and maternal outcomes due to poor antenatal care and late coming of subjects with complications that can result in higher fetal and maternal mortality and morbidity than booked females.