Access to prenatal care in North Carolina: a comparative study of women with some prenatal care and women with no prenatal care

A SPECIAL REPORT SERIES BY THE N.C. DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, DIVISION OF HEALTH SERVICES, STATE CENTER FOR HEALTH STATISTICS, P.O. BOX 2091, RALEIGH, N.C. 27602 No. 48 February 1989 ACCESS TO PRENATAL CARE IN NORTH CAROLINA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF WOMEN WITH SOME PRENATAL CARE AND WOMEN WITH NO PRENATAL CARE N.C. DOCUMENTS CLEARINGHOUSE MAY 22 1989 N.C. STATE LIBRARY ABSTRACT RALEIGH During the decade of the eighties the overall number and percent of babies born in North Carolina to women with no prenatal care has increased dramatically. This paper examines the contributions of attitudinal, and sociodemographic factors in distinguishing between women with no prenatal care and women with some prenatal care but less than adequate care from the 1985 North Carolina birth cohort. Using a multivariate logistic regression model the sociodemographic factors that were found to be important predictors of prenatal care include marital status, with married women more likely than unmarried mothers to have received some prenatal care; employment, as women working at full-time jobs more likely than others to have received care; parity, with first-time mothers more likely than multiparous women to have received care; and income, with wealthier mothers more likely to have received care. Factors associated with the health care system were also important predictors of prenatal care. Women who received their primary health care from a private physician, or health department were more likely than those who did not have a regular source of care to receive some prenatal care. The means through which a woman determines the existence of her pregnancy is also an important predictor of care. Women who found out for sure they were pregnant from a private physician or local health department were more likely to have received care than those who found out about their pregnancy from another source. The best predictor of prenatal care in the multivariate models was participation in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program. Whether W1C participation leads women into care or prenatal care is the means through which women enter WIC cannot be determined from the data. by J. Michael Bowling and Patricia Riley