Assessing antenatal care service delivery and uptake of key interventions in Ghana

RESEARCH BRIEF
All pregnant women in Ghana can receive antenatal care for free, directly reducing mortality and morbidity. Our study assessed the coverage of antenatal care services in 4 hospitals in the Ashanti region of Ghana and the quality of implementation of the services. 895 pregnant women were interviewed at 36 or more weeks of gestation.
Key findings:
There was relatively high uptake of key interventions for malaria among pregnant women:

  • 96% of women received at least 1 dose of intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP-IPTp).
  • 63% of women received 3 or more doses of SP-IPTp.
  • 88% of pregnant women owned insecticide-treated nets, but only 58% of women slept under one before the survey.
  • 100% of women received iron and folate supplements.

Challenges:

  • Challenges were identified with records keeping.
  • There were discrepancies between records kept in the registers and those forwarded to the district.

Recommendations:

  • We recommend regular training is needed of new antenatal clinic staff.
  • Supervision is advised by health information officers of the Ghana Health Service.
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