Abstract: ObjectiveTo investigate the mediation effect of family income on the relationship between maternal education and frequency of antenatal care visits.MethodsWomen who had taken antenatal care visits and given birth in the past year in Guangzhou were selected randomly from 15 vaccination clinics in January 2011 for face-to-face questionnaire survey.The survey contents included demographic characteristics, times of giving birth, and frequency of antenatal care visits.ResultsA total of 749 women were recruited.The average age was (27.5±4.5) years.Average education level was (11.6±3.4) years.There was 49.1% respondents had family income of 3 000-7 999 Yuan and 88.9% had more than four times of antenatal care visits.Multivariate analysis showed that the standardized years of education was significantly associated with family income (a=1.105) and antenatal care（c=1.405）; the adjusted OR were 3.02 (95%CI: 2.57-3.55) and 4.07 (95% CI:2.57-6.45), respectively.After controlling the effect of family income (b=0.419), the effect of standardized years of education on antenatal care was attenuated (c′=1.223, P<0.01).There was 27.5% of the effect of maternal education on antenatal care was medicated by family income.ConclusionThe association between maternal education and antenatal care was partially mediated by family income, suggesting the importance of direct and indirect effect of maternal educational level on antenatal service utilization.