Beeckman et al. BMC Public Health 2010, 10:527 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/527 care providers pay special attention to socially vulner- able women. Attention should be given to non-Eur- opean (EU15) women, those with low educational levels and those with low income. These women are at risk of fewer antenatal visits, independently of other factors. This information is valuable for policy makers who develop and evaluate antenatal care programmes. Future research on determinants of other elements of antenatal care, such as initiation of care and content of care, can ascertain whether these dynamics in variations in the amount of antenatal care received remain the same. Acknowledgements This study was supported by a grant from the Brussels Metropolitan Region, for which we want to express our gratitude. We also want to thank the members of our advisory commission for their help and advice in our research project. The members of this commission are S. Alexander, C. Buekenhout, B. Buysse, G. Masuy-Stroobant, M. De Spiegelaere, V. De Vis, G. Vanbrempt and C. Van Vaerenbergh. Further, this study was made possible thanks to the clinical centres that provided the necessary support and the participation of the pregnant women themselves. We want to thank Steven Gorlé for his statistical advice. Author details 1Department of Medical Sociology and Health Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090 Brussels, Belgium. 2Interuniversity Centre for Health Economics Research, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Laarbeeklaan 103, 1090 Brussels, Belgium. Authors’ contributions KB contributed to the conception and design of the study, gathered the data, contributed to the analysis and interpretation of data and wrote the article. FL contributed to the conception and design of the study, interpreted the data and revised the article critically for intellectual content. 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