Social Barriers Affecting Initiation of Antenatal Care in Pregnant Women Coming to DHQ Hospital Sahiwal

Aim: To determine the frequency of social barriers affecting initiation of antenatal care in pregnant women coming to DHQ Hospital Sahiwal. Study Design: It was a descriptive cross sectional study. Place of study: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Sahiwal Medical College/DHQ/Teaching Hospital, Sahiwal. Duration: From January 2012 to December 2014. Methodology: A total of 200 women of reproductive age group registered first time after 12 weeks(first trimester) of gestation. They were interviewed for social barriers affecting early antenatal care. Results: Mean age of the women participated in our study was 29.54 +/- 4.17 years while most common factor affecting early registration of antenatal care was financial burden i.e., 124(67%) followed by 88(44%) having inadequate knowledge, 87(43.5%) belongs to rural area, 68(34%) had un-intended pregnancy, 63(31.5%) told regarding inadequate health facilities, 41(20.5%) had no perceived benefits of starting early, 39(19.5%) had multigravida (>5 paras) and 35(17.5%) had family issues. Conclusion: We concluded financial burden, inadequate knowledge, un-intended pregnancies are the main social barriers which affected initiation of early antenatal care in pregnant women.