title: Barriers to early initiation of antenatal care in a multi-ethnic sample in South Auckland, New Zealand.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify barriers to early initiation of antenatal care amongst pregnant women in South Auckland, New Zealand.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women in late pregnancy (>37 weeks gestation) or who had recently delivered (<6 weeks postnatal) completed a questionnaire about their antenatal care. Logistic regression analysis evaluated whether late booking for antenatal care was associated with demographic factors and potential barriers to accessing care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 826 women who participated, 137 (17%) booked for antenatal care at >18 weeks (late bookers). The ethnic composition of the sample was: 43% Pacific Peoples, 20% Maori, 14% Asian, and 21% European or other ethnicities. The multivariate analysis indicated that women were significantly more likely to book late for antenatal care if they had limited resources (OR=1.86; 95% CI=1.17-2.93), no tertiary education (OR=1.96; 95% CI=1.23-3.15), or were not living with a husband/partner (OR=2.34; 95% CI=1.48-3.71). In addition, the odds of late booking for antenatal care was almost six times higher among Maori (OR=5.70; 95% CI=2.57-12.64) and Pacific (OR=5.90; 95% CI=2.83-12.29) women compared to those of European and other ethnicities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Late booking for antenatal care in the Counties Manukau District Health Board area (South Auckland) is associated with sociodemographic factors, social deprivation, and inadequate social support.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Corbett
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chelimo
authors.affiliation: South Auckland Clinical School, Middlemore Hospital, Private Bag 93311, Otahuhu, Auckland 1640, New Zealand. Kara.Okesene-Gafa@middlemore.co.nz.
authors.forename: Kara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okesene-Gafa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors