[Not all women use maternal health services. Language barriers and fear of the examination are common].

A study within a multinational collaborative study (Barriers and Incentives to Prenatal Care in Europe) showed that out of 3,278 women in Sweden who delivered during a 12-month study period, 5% had registered late (after 15 gestational weeks) at the prenatal care centre or had visited the centre less than three times. Compared to the control group, these women were more likely to be young, single, multipara, immigrant, not fully employed, or having an unplanned pregnancy. The results indicate that their contact with prenatal services could be facilitated by access to interpreters and by transcultural competence among centre staff.