THE DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF EARLY AND LATE ATTENDERS FOR ANTENATAL CARE

In the Royal New Zealand Plunket Society's 1990-91 Cohort study, 581 of 4,286 women questioned (13.7%) had not initiated antenatal care until after the first trimester. These late attenders were more likely to be non-European or of high parity; 42.9% of Pacific Islander mothers and 28.9% of Maori mothers did not initiate antenatal care until after the first trimester. Late attenders were also more likely to be unmarried, of lower socioeconomic status, young or with lower educational attainment. The reason for delayed antenatal care needs to be investigated and mothers who are high parity and non-European need to be particularly targeted to encourage them to attend for antenatal care early.