The results of this study show that about three quarter
of the study population registered for antenatal care in
the second trimester of pregnancy while a third did in
the third trimester. This is in keeping with most previous
studies in African women which show that the average
timing was usually in the second trimester.8,9,10,14
It was interesting to note that as much as about three
quarter of the women felt that the first three months of
pregnancy was the best time to register for antenatal
care. This knowledge most likely came from health
education programs during previous pregnancies, hospitals
or the news media but the booking pattern suggests
that most of the women were not convinced that
there was any gain in registering for antenatal care early
or had constraints hence the discordance between
knowledge and practice in most of them.