Abstract : ABSTRACT Background: Pregnancy is one of the most dangerous experiences that women go through in life because of the associated complications. However, in Ghana, majority of pregnant women still do not access antenatal care services. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 489 pregnant and lactating mothers on their antenatal care services utilization. Data was collected using structured questionnaire through face-to-face interviews. Data was entered, cleaned and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: In total, 88.1% of the women utilized antenatal care services. In the multivariate analysis, the following determinants were significantly associated with the likelihood of not utilizing antenatal care services (Odds Ratio (AOR) larger than 1): age of women, >35 years (AOR = 0.14, 95%CI = 0.08–0.97) compared to less than 20 years, educational level (compared to no formal education: tertiary level AOR = 0.19, 95%CI = 0.13–0.68), marital status (compared to single/never married: being married AOR = 0.23, 95%CI = 0.15–0.98), gravid (compared to primigravida: multigravida AOR = 0.37, 95%CI = 0.15–0.81) and ownership of National Health Insurance card (compared to having the card: not having the card AOR = 14.43, 95%CI = 3.04–48.33). women aged >35 years, married, tertiary level of education and multigravida were more likely to utilize antenatal care services, while women who do not have National Health Insurance cards were more likely not to utilize antenatal care services. Conclusion: Antenatal care service utilization rate was below the regional target of 90%. Five factors were found to be associated with antenatal care service utilization. More effort is needed to reach the disadvantaged populations with antenatal care services.

Keyword : Antenatal care, Utilization, Predictors, Upper West Region, Ghana