oa Poor Antenatal care and Neonatal outcome: An experience of a Developing Nation

Introduction: Nearly 98% of women in developed nations benefit from antenatal services.^1,2 In Qatar, all pregnant women are provided with antenatal care services at primary and secondary care facilities. If indicated, they are referred or transferred to tertiary care hospitals.³ However, it was noted that a significant number of women opted not to avail of these services. This study is conducted to assess the prevalence of women with no/poor antenatal care and their neonatal outcomes. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted at a secondary care hospital. All women (n = 5,796) who gave birth in the year 2018 were included. Prevalence of women with poor/no antenatal care was noted. Neonatal outcomes of 248 women with poor antenatal care (Group A) were compared with 298 randomly selected women with antenatal care (Group B). Statistical analysis was performed with the MedCalc online software. Results: The prevalence of women with poor and no antenatal care was 12.54%. The prevalence of preterm birth was 23.79% versus 4.39% in Groups A and B; respectively (OR-6.79, 95% CI-3.62 to 12.73, P < 0.001). Large for dates and small for dates babies were observed in 14.92% versus 3.38% (OR-1.14 95% CI-0.67 to 1.92, P>0.05) and 12.5% versus 11.15% (OR-5.01, 95% CI-2.44 to 10.31, P < 0.001) in Groups A and B; respectively. Neonatal admissions at birth were 12.10% versus 6.76% (OR-1.89, 95% CI-1.05 to 3.44, P < 0.05) in Groups A and B. Higher prevalence of intrauterine fetal deaths was also noted in women with poor/no antenatal care with 3.32% versus 0.34% (OR-12.49, 95% CI-1.55 to 100.6, P < 0.05) (Figure 1, Table 1). Conclusion: A higher prevalence of women with poor antenatal care was noted as compared to data from developed nations. Poor neonatal outcomes were observed in these women. This study identified the need for future studies to determine why some women are not using maternity services in Qatar.