Abstract:
Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) adoption is significantly influenced by women's perceptions of pregnancy, labour, and post-partum difficulties. This study aimed to investigate the factors of uptake of specialized prenatal care services among pregnant women in Sirisia Sub- County, Bungoma County, Kenya. The target population included women who had given birth in the last two years and healthcare workers. Data collection involved a questionnaire, FGDs and Key Informant Interviews. The majority (31.9%) were aged 21-30 years, 57.3% were married, and 57.3% had secondary education. Only 4.3% had no formal education, while 23.8% had tertiary education. Regarding employment, 34.7% were self-employed, 20.7% were formally employed, and 24.8% were unemployed. More than half of the respondents (56.7%) initiated prenatal care between 4-6 months, and 68.7% had ANC visits between 0-16 gestation weeks. The uptake of Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) services was higher among married women (67.6%), those with tertiary education (74.0%), and formally employed women (63.8%). Factors like marital status (p=0.031) and education (p=0.0001) were significantly associated with FANC service uptake, underscoring the importance of these factors in improving antenatal care utilization, especially among younger, unmarried, and less-educated women.
