Abstract

Postnatal care can help identify common life-threatening complications and reduce infection
after child mortality. Despite the significant role postnatal care services play in improving
maternal health, services are underutilized in most developing countries including Uganda.
Hence, it is important to identify factors that facilitate or impede postnatal care service
utilization. The aim of this study was to assess factors influencing postnatal care services
utilization among mothers attending PNC at Alerek Health center III, Abim District. This was
a cross-sectional study conducted on 96 mothers who had given birth to live babies a year
prior to the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Data were cleaned,
coded and entered into Microsoft excel then analysed using SPSS v.20. Bivariate and
multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to ascertain the relationship between
dependent and independent variables. Descriptive statistics were presented in the form of
frequency tables and figures. Out of 96 respondents that participated in the study, the
majority of the study participants were aged 21-30 years (64.5%), had no formal education
(75.0%) and were married (70.8%). Utilization of PNC according to the study was 44.8%.
Knowledge of PNC and affordability were significantly associated with PNC utilization. The
study further observed a significant association between distances to health center, waiting
time at the health facility with utilization of PNC services among women. Utilization of
postnatal care services is still low. Predictors of postnatal care utilization include knowledge
of PNC, affordability, distance to the health centre and waiting time at the health facility