title: Booked and unbooked mothers delivering at Harare Maternity Hospital, Zimbabwe: a comparison of maternal characteristics and foetal outcome.
abstract: This study was prompted by the poor maternal and foetal outcome at Harare Maternity Hospital, Zimbabwe, in unbooked mothers compared to women who had booked for antenatal care. Comparison was made of 195 recently delivered unbooked mothers with 196 booked mothers. Unbooked mothers were significantly more likely to be younger, of lower parity, be single, have lower socio-economic status, live in or migrate from rural areas, be uneducated and have an unwanted pregnancy. Their infants were significantly more likely to preterm and/or of low birth weight and had a higher perinatal mortality. The major reasons cited by the women for not booking were lack of money and delivery occurring before the intended time of booking. Discussion focuses on how to improve outcome in unbooked mothers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Natal, Congella.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Fawcus
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Crowther
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van Baelen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marumahoko
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017533:Marital Status; D010298:Parity; D011181:Postnatal Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015030:Zimbabwe