ANC

Antenatal care (ANC) is the care a pregnant woman receives during her pregnancy through a series of consultations with trained health care workers such as midwives, nurses, and sometimes a doctor who specializes in pregnancy and birth. According to the WHO (2014), a teenager (adolescent, youth or young person) is a person aged between thirteen (13) and nineteen (19) years. Thus, a person aged between 13 and 19 years and pregnant can be termed as a pregnant teenager, and in every society, teenage pregnant girls can be found. The Ghana Maternal Health Survey (2007) revealed that the antenatal care visit is patronized at least once by 90% of the pregnant teenagers and this is not encouraging especially when ANC prevents, helps in early diagnosis and treatment of general medical and disorders that is associated with pregnancy. The main aim of the study was to examine the reasons for low antenatal patronage by teenagers at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH). Examine the proportion of teenagers who make use of the antenatal services at the KBTH, The study seek to identify the factors that influence the patronage of antenatal service by pregnant teenagers at the KBTH and to determine the barriers to the patronage of antenatal services by pregnant teenagers at the KBTH. This study hoped to bring more insight and understanding on ANC among pregnant teenagers as well as challenges faced in accessing ANC at Korle-bu Teaching Hospital. Therefore, this would enable stakeholders involved in ANC care to establish appropriate interventions and programmes that can eventually benefit teenagers during pregnancy. The study area will be Korle-bu Teaching Hospital, Accra that is located in the capital city of Ghana with a population of about 2.07 million (Ghana statistical service report, 2010). This study is a descriptive study that involved the collection of reliable data to meet the objectives of the study. It was found out that majority of the respondents (79.09%) attends ANC at KBTH. It was revealed from the survey that most teenagers (48.18%) attended ANC in the first trimester and (21.82%) in the 2nd trimester. The study also showed that 52.73% of the teenagers visited ANC more frequently. The study findings indicated that waiting time influences patronage of ANC services in KBTH.  The analysis of data established that long waiting time discourages clients from coming for the services since it wastes their time. The study concluded that health care workers’ attitude also influences the patronage of antenatal by teenagers in KBTH. It is concluded that even though there were other economic barriers that affected ANC attendance, the most influential barrier was poverty or lack of funds. The women also lacked empowerment and this was revealed by their low level of high school education by most of the respondents. The study also concluded that high dependency of spouses and other relatives for financial support is a major barrier to accessing antenatal. The hospital must also increase education of teenagers on the need to attend ANC timely, as it will increase the attendance in the third trimester by the teenagers. The management of the hospital should advice health personnel to avoid any rudeness to or making of derogatory remarks about teenagers when they visit the health facility.