Antenatal care inequalities in South Korea: An analysis of health insurance claims data (2013–2022) in a high‐resource, high‐use country

Objective The aim of the present study was to explore inequalities in antenatal care (ANC) in South Korea. Based on the guidelines of the WHO, we categorized less than eight visits to an obstetrical facility as insufficient ANC. We examined ANC inequalities associated with age, disability, nationality, income, and geographic accessibility. Methods We extracted delivery event claimed from 2013 to 2022 from the National Health Insurance Service database. By tracing back 270 days from the delivery date, we counted the number of antenatal visits for each childbirth and calculated the proportion of women with insufficient ANC and assessed both absolute and relative inequalities for each population group. The logistic regression analysis for both underuse and overuse of ANC were conducted. Results Out of 3 416 517 childbirths, 104 109 women (3.0%) had fewer than eight ANC visits. Although the average number of ANC visits reached 18.7 in 2022, significant inequalities persisted across different population groups. The insufficient ANC rate was 28.1% for teenage women, 6.4% for disabled women, 10.7% for non‐Korean women, and 15.2% for dependents of medical aid households. Women with low income and those living in obstetric care underserved areas also exhibited higher ANC insufficiency. From 2021 to 2022, sufficiency in ANC decreased for teenage, disabled, and non‐Korean women, highlighting the effects of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Conclusion Antenatal care inequalities are evident in South Korea's well‐resourced health system. There is a need for further investigation into these disparities and the qualitative aspects of maternity care services. Synopsis Despite South Korea's well‐equipped health system, significant antenatal care inequalities exist, necessitating further exploration and qualitative analysis of maternity care gaps.