BACKGROUND Pregnancy is an important period to promote healthy behaviors, prevent and identify diseases early and treat them to maximize the health and development of both the woman and her unborn child. A new World Health Organization antenatal care model recommends the initiation of antenatal care visit within the first trimester of gestation. This study sought to examine the timing of initiation of antenatal care among first-time mothers and associated factors in rural Southern Ghana. METHODS Information on gestational age, timing of antenatal care, demographic and socioeconomic status of 1076 first-time mothers who gave birth in 2011 to 2013 in the Dodowa Health and Demographic Surveillance System were included in the study. The time of initiation of antenatal clinic attendance was calculated. The associations between dependent and independent variables were explored using logistic regression at 95% confidence interval in STATA version 14.2. RESULTS The mean gestational age at which the first-time mothers initiated antenatal care attendance was 3 month. Maternal age, level of education and household socioeconomic status were statistically significantly associated with timing of initiation of antenatal care attendance. CONCLUSION Although more than half of the study participants initiated ANC visit in the first trimester of pregnancy, a high proportion also started ANC attendance after the World Health Organization recommended period. Maternal age is significantly associated with timing of initiation of antenatal care visit among first-time mothers; older women were more likely to initiate antenatal care visit in the first trimester of gestation compared to the younger women.

中文翻译：

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加纳南部农村地区初产母亲产前门诊就诊时间的相关因素。

背景技术怀孕是促进健康行为，及早预防和发现疾病并对其进行治疗以最大程度地提高妇女及其未出生婴儿的健康和发展的重要时期。世界卫生组织的新产前保健模型建议在妊娠的头三个月内开始产前保健访问。这项研究试图检查南部加纳农村地区初次母亲开始产前护理的时间和相关因素。方法研究纳入了2011年至2013年在Dodowa健康和人口统计学监测系统中分娩的1076例初生母亲的胎龄，产前护理时间，人口统计学和社会经济状况的信息。计算开始产前门诊就诊的时间。在STATA版本14.2中，使用逻辑回归以95％置信区间探索因变量和自变量之间的关联。结果首次母亲进行产前护理的平均胎龄为3个月。产妇年龄，受教育程度和家庭社会经济状况与开始产前护理的时间有统计学显着相关。结论尽管一半以上的研究参与者在怀孕的前三个月开始了ANC的就诊，但仍有很大一部分人在世界卫生组织建议的时期之后开始了ANC的就诊。产妇年龄与初次母亲开始产前保健访问的时间显着相关；