(iii) The third indicator - adequate antenatal care (AANC) -
was based on the number of visits that a woman completed
during her most recent pregnancy. Maternal mortality is very
high in Bangladesh and mostly (about 85%) associated with
direct obstetric complications [16,41]. Generally antenatal care
(ANC) is an important strategy for safe delivery and to reduce
maternal mortality. It can also improve the health of women
and their babies because they may receive necessary health
information and services during consultations or check-ups
[42-44]. Following a similar cut-off point used by other studies
[42,44-46], four or more ANC visits were termed adequate
(coded as 1), whereas less than four visits were considered
inadequate (coded as 0).