Antenatal care gives opportunity for care of women during pregnancy, prevention and treatment of diseases as well as behavioral change interventions. The perception of users about services influences service utilization. This study was performed to assess user satisfaction with antenatal care services at the centre and to identify constraints at service points. Women attending antenatal care at a cottage hospital In Nigeria were administered questionnaires to evaluate their satisfaction with services and their views about services at various points of care. Data analysis was made using Statistical Package for Social Science version 15.0. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.5. Four hundred correctly completed questionnaires were analysed. The mean age of the respondents was 29 years (SD of 4) and their parity ranged from 0 to 5 (mean 2.5 ± 1.9). The overall satisfaction with care was 94 % and it was highest (95.8 %) with health talks and least with medical consultations (64 %). Attributes valued at service points were educating nature of health talks, prompt attention, and friendly and polite staff. Reasons for dissatisfaction were unfriendly attitudes of staff and delay at service points. Additional care packages women would want were: more staff employed 61 (15.3 %), better organized services 34 (8.5 %) and routine ultrasound scans 25 (6.3 %). Women valued antenatal care and were highly satisfied with services received at the centre. Health education forums should be used to address issues with service delivery. Constraints at service points should be addressed to enhance better service delivery.

Introduction: Focused antenatal care (FANC), based on fewer goal-oriented visits, is the WHO's recommended care for pregnant women. The objectives of the study were to assess the acceptability of FANC and barriers to its implementation at the hospital. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among antenatal clinic attendees between January and March 2011 at Obio Cottage Hospital, Port Harcourt Nigeria. Women were recruited by systematic sampling technique into the study. Questionnaires which sought demographic data, acceptability or rejection of fewer antenatal visits and reasons for decisions were administered to them. Data analysis was performed using Stata 10. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine associations between demographic parameters and acceptance of FANC. Significance level was set at P<0.05. Results: The analysis was based on 456 out of 500 completed questionnaires. The mean age and parity of the women were 28.6±4.2 and 1±1 respectively. The mean number of preferred visits was 13.4±6.9 visits, (IQR 9-18). Reduced visits were acceptable to 75% of the women. The main reason for accepting reduced visits was to save time 164 (40.6%). The main reasons for rejecting reduced visits were for better monitoring of pregnancy (35.1%) and early detection of problems (21.6%). The likelihood of accepting fewer visits increased with age. OR=1.04; 95% CI (1.09-1.10), P=0.01. Conclusion: Focused antenatal care was acceptable to most women in the clinic. The concern it would compromise monitoring of pregnancy should be addressed during health education.