4. DISCUSSION
Our findings indicate that the mean age and education of
women with inadequate prenatal care are lower compared
to those receiving adequate prenatal care. According
to a study by Fekrat (1998), higher age and lower
education decreased the likelihood of referral for prenatal
care [9]. Similarly, Kulmala et al. reported that illiteracy
and lower levels of education are among major
reasons for not referring regularly for receiving prenatal
cares [10]. In our study, only 17 women were employed,
therefore, no significant relationship was found between
the employment of pregnant women and level of care
received. 14 of the employed women had received prenatal
care and this indicates that employment may have a
positive effect on referral of pregnant women for prenatal
care. In this study, the time of the initiation of prenatal
care in women with adequate care was earlier; a
finding consistent with previous studies which indicated
that the most common cause of not referring for prenatal
care was unawareness of pregnancy. Regarding the gestational
age, the majority of women had term labor, followed
by preterm, post-date and post term labor, in decreasing order of frequency, indicating no significant
difference between the two groups. In study, Vintzileos et
al. (2002) delay in initiating prenatal care or waiving it
will be associated with complications of pregnancy including
premature rupture of membranes and post term
pregnancy [11]. Apparently, our study differs from the
latter as we have not exclusively dealt with preterm or
post term housewives women. No significant increase in
preterm labor in women who had received less prenatal
care (p = 0.19) has been reported by McDuffie et al. [7].
Regarding the route of delivery, the rate of vaginal delivery was lower in women who had received adequate
prenatal care which may be due to the more intense prenatal
care in this group. In addition, in our study the rate
of previous C-section in women with adequate care was
higher that is a reason for their higher rate of C-section.
In a study in 1996, prenatal care did not affect the rate of
C-section considerably [7].