Antenatal Visit Coverage - One Visit

A range of health problems experienced by pregnant women and their babies can be prevented, detected and treated during antenatal care provided by skilled health personnel (doctor, midwife or a nurse with midwifery skills). The indicator, therefore, assesses the proportion of women who had at least one antenatal health check provided by skilled health personnel.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of women aged 15 – 49 who in the past 2 years delivered a live child:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q1: During this last pregnancy, did anyone check your and your baby's health?

A1: yes / no

(ask the following question only if the previous answer is YES)

Q2: During this last pregnancy, who checked your and your baby's health?

(multiple options are possible; instruct the data collectors to probe: “Did anyone else check your and your baby's health?”)

A2: _

1) doctor

2) nurse

3) midwife

4) traditional birth assistant

5) community health volunteers

6) other – specify: ……………………

7) does not remember

To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of respondents whose health was checked by skilled health personnel (doctor, nurse, or midwife) by the total number of interviewed respondents (exclude those who did not remember). Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage. 

Disaggregate the data by location (rural/urban; near a health facility/far from a health facility), socio-economic characteristics (wealth quintile, education level) and mother's age.

1) Use the following two questions to assess whether the respondent is “aged 15 – 49 years and had a live birth in the last 2 years”:

Q: What is your age?

A: specify: ______ / won’t say

Q: In the past two years, did you give birth to a child that was alive when it was born?

A: yes / no / won’t say

2) Skilled health personnel is an accredited health professional - such as a midwife, doctor, nurse or auxiliary nurse/midwife - who has been educated and trained to proficiency in the skills needed to manage uncomplicated pregnancies, childbirth and the immediate postnatal period, and in the identification, management and referral of complications in women and newborns. Traditional birth attendants and community health workers, trained or not, are excluded from the category of skilled health personnel for antenatal care.

3) The two indicators of antenatal care (at least one visit and at least four visits) are based on WHO's standard questions. While the “one visit” indicator focuses on the quality of care (i.e. care provided by a skilled health professional), the “four visits” indicator focuses on the intensity of care (given by either a skilled or unskilled provider). Since most national surveys do not collect information on the type of provider for each visit, WHO does not measure the number of visits provided by skilled health personnel. 

4) The indicator is based on UNICEF's Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) guidance.