Person Centered Antenatal Care and Associated Factors in Rwanda: A Secondary Analysis of Program Data

Abstract Background: Research suggests that person centered antenatal care (PCANC) provides an effective tool for addressing maternal deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa through the delivery of health care which is both respectful of, and responsive to, the preferences, needs, and values of women. Yet little is known in Rwanda about either the extent to which PCANC is practiced or the factors that might determine its use. This is the first study to quantitatively examine the extent of and the factors associated with PCANC in Rwanda.Methods: We used quantitative data from a pair-matched cluster randomized control trial (CRCT) in Rwanda. A total of 2,150 surveys were used from 36 health centers across five districts. Eligible women were 16 – 49 years old and were not referred to higher levels of care or had incomplete survey responses. Results: PCANC was found to be sub-optimal with 30% of women leaving antenatal care (ANC) either with questions or confused and 24% feeling disrespected. In bivariate analysis, factors that significantly predict high PCANC are better levels of cognitive maternal empowerment, greater parity, being in the traditional care (control group), and being from Burera district. The study group to which women were assigned and the district in which women received care were significantly associated with PCANC in the multivariate analysis.Conclusions: Given the benefits of PCANC, improvements in PCANC through provider training in Rwanda might promote an institutional culture shift towards a more person-centered model of care. We also found that better measurement tools are needed to more comprehensively measure PCANC and recommend wider use of these validated tools in national surveys to get a systematic understanding of PCANC in Rwanda. Additionally, we recommend thoughtful measures of empowerment during antenatal care to capture the social experiences of women in Rwanda. Trial registration: Not applicable