History

Objective: An essential component of the package of services aimed at enhancing mother and infant health is antenatal care (ANC). Thus this study aims to assess the knowledge and attitudes of pregnant women in the first trimester about antenatal care in the community of rural areas who visited primary health care centers of Shekhan District. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Primary Health Care Centers of Shekhan District in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq from November 2021 through April 2022 on 300 convenient sample selected pregnant women in the first trimester of their pregnancy, residents in a rural area attended Primary Health Care Centers in Shekhan District. Data were collected using the direct interview with a structured questionnaire established through the review of related literature, which included general pregnant information, clinical pregnancy investigations, drug use, and questions related to ANC knowledge and attitude. A descriptive analysis of data was done using the SPSS program Version 23 IBM. Result: The results reveal that the pregnant women had good knowledge, 206 (68.7%) and a strong attitude, 165 (55%) toward antenatal care with a mean and standard deviation of 12.83(1.679) and 12.33(2.199), respectively. Conclusion: The study concluded that most Shekhan rural pregnant women had good knowledge and showed a positive attitude toward ANC services, visited physicians for ANC, and committed to investigation-related pregnancy.