Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Nursing - Department of Maternal and Newborn Health Nursing

Background: The proportion of pregnant women initiating prenatal care during the first trimester is one of the standard clinical performance measures to assess the quality of maternal health care. Aim: This study aim to examine the determinants of non- adherence to antenatal care among the pregnant women. Subjects and Methods: A descriptive exploratory research design was utilized. Sample: A convenience sample of 300 pregnant women who attended antenatal care clinic at Elminia university hospital with gestational age 16 weeks and more in the first visit. Tools: Structured interviewing questionnaire was used to collect the needed data. Results: The study findings revealed that the mean age of the study sample was 26.8 years. The majority of them (95%) were housewives. Sixty-point seven percent live in rural area as well as, 52.3% of the study sample married at age <20 year. The majority of the study sample has unsatisfactory mean knowledge score about ANC (Mean ±SD, 12.8±1.1). Also, the study findings found that the main factors for non-adherence for early antenatal care were maternal age, age at marriage, obstetrics profile as parity, gravida, mode of previous delivery, income, and husband's job. Conclusion and recommendation: Late antenatal care remains high that indicating the need for intensification and more focus for utilization of resources aimed at increasing sensitization of early importance of early attendance

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