Quality of Antenatal Care for Adolescents: A Secondary Analysis of More Than 9,000 Antenatal Visits in Four Countries

Corrina Moucheraud, University of California, Los Angeles
Patrick Heuveline , University of California, Los Angeles
Manisha Shah, University of California, Los Angeles

Adolescents face a high risk of poor maternal and neonatal health outcomes, which may be mitigated with high-quality antenatal care. We examine over 9000 antenatal care visits, from health facilities in Haiti, Malawi, Nepal, and Tanzania, using data from Service Provision Assessment surveys (direct care observation, exit interviews). We compare content of these visits, based on World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, for adolescents to women over age 20. Adolescents are less likely to experience all but one antenatal care activity compared to those of women over age 20, including being asked about pregnancy danger signs (AOR 0.50 [95% CI 0.27, 0.94]) and counseled on delivery preparation (AOR 0.46 [95% CI 0.22, 0.95]). Adolescents are however significantly and substantially more satisfied with their care, and report fewer complaints, than women over age 20. Country-stratified results (except Haiti) largely resemble the pooled findings.

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 Presented in Session 2. Children & Youth