Institutional delivery in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia: does antenatal care matter?

Aim
Maternal mortality is still the greatest problem in East Nusa Tenggara Province, and antenatal care (ANC) is the best solution for preventing such mortality among women. This study aimed to analyze the role of the completeness of ANC in institutional delivery in the East Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia.

Subject and methods
The study used secondary data from the 2018 Indonesian Basic Health Survey. The cross-sectional research examined 3162 women aged ≥15 years who had given birth in the last 5 years. Besides institutional delivery as an outcome variable and ANC as an exposure variable, we analyzed seven control variables: type of residence, age group, marital status, education level, employment status, wealth status, and gravida. The investigation concluded with binary logistic regression.

Results
The results showed that the proportion of institutional birth was 73.8%, and the ratio of complete ANC was 55.3%. Based on the completeness of ANC, women with full ANC were 3.467 times more likely to experience institutional delivery than those with incomplete ANC (AOR 3.467; 95% CI 3.417–3.517). Moreover, all control variables were found to be significantly related to institutional delivery.

Conclusion
The study confirmed that the completeness of ANC is related to institutional delivery. Complete ANC increased the likelihood of institutional delivery by more than threefold in the East Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia.