Mean gestational age at booking amongst antenatal clinic attendees at a Tertiary Hospital in Rivers State, Nigeria

Background: Many literature have reported that the first 14 weeks as recommendation for pregnant women to book for antenatal care. The World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that pregnant women register for antenatal care (ANC) in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy or after two missed periods. However, there are challenges of late booking in the developing countries of the world due to illiteracy, socio-cultural beliefs, economy and religious ideologies.
Aim: To determine the mean gestational age at booking amongst ANC attendees at Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Method: The present cross-sectional and observational study was conducted after informed consent was given by antenatal clinic attendees. Antenatal women who attended antenatal clinic were recruited for the study during January to June 2019. Data was collected from the consented women using a pretested questionnaire. Data were expressed in absolute numbers and percentage scale. Permission for the study was obtained from the ethical committee of the Rivers State Hospital Management Board. The information was entered into a spread sheet and analyzed using SPSS Version 25.
Result: A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed and 488 questionnaires retrieved. The mean age was 31.44 years and the modal parity was 0. For the educational status 357 (73.2%) had tertiary level, 126 (25.8%) had secondary level, 5 (1%) had primary level of education, while 5 (1%) of the respondents did not provide their educational status. The mean gestational age (GA) at booking was 19 weeks. Eighty one (16.6%) of the ANC attendees registered for ANC in the third trimester. Total number of ANC attendees that registered late for ANC were 414 (84.8%).
Conclusion: The study revealed that majority of antenatal clinic attendees at the RSUTH registered late for ANC representing 84.8% of the pregnant women at booking. There is need to educate women of reproductive age to register early for ANC to prevent adverse maternal and perinatal outcome.