Abstract:
Background: Pregnancy and childbirth complications are leading causesof death among adolescent girls. Due to the high number of teenage pregnanciesin Bomachoge Borabu Sub-County, thisstudyaimed to determine adherence levelsand factorsassociated with the uptake of antenatal care services among adolescent mothers in Bomachoge Borabu Sub-County, Kisii County, Kenya.Me thods:Thisstudy employed a quantitativecross-sectionaldesign. Five government health facilitieswere purposively selected, and293 adolescentmothers aged between 15 and 19 yearsrandomly sampled.Structured questionnaireswereused in the study.Fisher’s exact test of associationand multivariable analysiswerecarried outto determine the association between adherence and various variables. Re s ults: A majorityof the sampled adolescent mothers(88.3%)had access to at least one Antenatal Care (ANC) visit during their pregnancy. Theirmean age was 17.4 (STD±1.38) years. The majority (96.1%) did not adhere to optimal ANC uptake, with 25.2% and 48.8% adheringto the scheduled visits in the 1stand2ndtrimester, respectively.None came for the 3rdtrimester. Gestational age at 1stANC, knowledge of recommended number of ANC visits and mode of reminders to attend scheduled ANC visits were significantly associated in univariable analysis (p<.001). Mothers who sought ANC between 8-12 weeks and 16 weeks, respectively, were 24.5% (p<.00425) and 18.75% (p<.0228)times more likely to adhere, respectively,compared to those who sought ANC at 4 weeks. Similarly, mothers without knowledge ofthe recommended number of ANC visits were 89% (p<.006) more likely to adhere compared to those who had the knowledge. Conclusion: Most adolescent women were at risk ofmaternal morbidity and mortality due tohigh levels of non-adherence to optimal ANC uptake, despite having knowledge of the ANC recommendations. Early ANC contact initiation and use of ANC reminders boost adherenceto optimal ANC uptake among adolescent mothers
