A randomized evaluation of smoking cessation interventions for pregnant women at a WIC clinic.

Pregnant smokers attending a local health department WIC clinic were randomly assigned to one of two self-help smoking cessation programs or usual care. The multiple component program resulted in larger quit rates than usual care during the last month of pregnancy (11 percent vs 3 percent) and postpartum (7 percent vs 0 percent). Achieving quit rates in WIC similar to those in studies conducted at prenatal care settings, suggests that smoking cessation programs for low-income pregnant WIC clients are feasible.     

Savings achieved by giving WIC benefits to women prenatally.

The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides supplemental food, nutrition and health education, and social services referral to pregnant, breastfeeding, and post-partum women, and their infants and young children who are both low-income and at nutritional risk. A number of statistically controlled evaluations that compared prenatal women who received WIC services with demographically similar women who did not receive WIC services have found WIC enrollment associated with decreased levels of low birth weight among enrolled women''s infants. Several also have found lower overall maternal and infant hospital costs among women who had received prenatal WIC services compared with similar women who did not receive prenatal WIC services. A meta-analysis of the studies shows that providing WIC benefits to pregnant women is estimated to reduce low birth weight rates 25 percent and reduce very low birth weight births by 44 percent. Using these data to estimate costs, prenatal WIC enrollment is estimated to have reduced first year medical costs for U.S. infants by $1.19 billion in 1992. Savings from a reduction in estimated Medicaid expenditures in the first year post-partum more than offset the cost of the Federal prenatal WIC Program. Even using more conservative assumptions, providing prenatal WIC benefits was cost-beneficial. Because of the estimated program cost-savings, the U.S. General Accounting Office has recommended that all pregnant women at or below 185 percent of Federal poverty level be eligible for the program.     

Factors influencing early prenatal enrollment in the WIC program

Women's access to prenatal nutrition services was explored using a nationally representative sample of pregnant participants in the Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) in 1984. The probability was examined of the participant entering the program during her first trimester, rather than the second or third trimester. Other research has suggested that length of participation in the program during pregnancy is associated with increased birth weight. The data were adjusted for various personal and local operational factors, such as prior WIC participation, race, age, income, household size, WIC priority level, availability of prenatal or other health services, targeted outreach policies, years of local operation, and local agency size. Previous participation in the WIC Program was the only factor significantly associated with early enrollment (adjusted odds ratio 2.1). Race was marginally significant. Neither the presence of local policies of outreach targeted to pregnant women, nor co-location of WIC services with prenatal or other health services, showed significant effects on early enrollment.     

Money isn't everything: rural physicians identify other factors that facilitate providing prenatal care for low-income women.

The problem of physicians dropping the practice of obstetrics is becoming more serious each year in the United States. Those who remain in practice are increasingly reluctant to serve women who receive Medicaid assistance. Previous research has tended to focus on low reimbursement and liability as barriers that physicians perceive to providing prenatal care to low-income clients. In a 1992 survey in rural Idaho, however, physicians who have been serving these clients for at least 4 years rated other factors equally or more important in treating low-income women. These other factors, discussed in this paper, have to do with the administrative and psychosocial support coordinated by public health nurses for their internal clients, the physicians, as well as for their external clients, pregnant women.     

Initiation of and Barriers to Prenatal Care Use Among Low-Income Women in San Antonio,Texas

Healthy People 2010 goals set a target of 90% of mothers starting prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy. While there are questions about the value of prenatal care (PNC), there is much observational evidence of the benefits of PNC including reduction in maternal, fetal, perinatal, and infant deaths. The objective of this study was to understand barriers to PNC as well as factors that impact early initiation of care among low-income women in San Antonio, Texas. A survey study was conducted among low-income women seeking care at selected public health clinics in San Antonio. Interviews were conducted with 444 women. Study results show that women with social barriers, those who were less educated, who were living alone (i.e. without an adult partner or spouse), or who had not planned their pregnancies were more likely to initiate PNC late in their pregnancies. It was also observed that women who enrolled in the WIC program were more likely to initiate PNC early in their pregnancies. Women who initiated PNC late in pregnancy had the highest odds of reporting service-related barriers to receiving care. However, financial and personal barriers created no significant obstacles to women initiating PNC. The majority of women in this study reported that they were aware of the importance of PNC, knew where to go for care during pregnancy, and were able to pay for care through financial assistance, yet some did not initiate early prenatal care. This clearly establishes that the decision making process regarding PNC is complex. It is important that programs consider the complexity of the decision-making process and the priorities women set during pregnancy in planning interventions, particularly those that target low-income women. This could increase the likelihood that these women will seek PNC early in their pregnancies.     

Drawing women into prenatal care

Participation in prenatal care services in the United States is low relative to that in many other developed countries, and rates of use are declining among some high risk groups. In 1986, 18 percent of all U.S. infants were born to women who delayed care until the second trimester of pregnancy; four percent, to women who initiated care in the third trimester; and about two percent, to women who obtained no prenatal care at all. Among the major barriers to prenatal care are inadequate insurance coverage, limitations in the Medicaid program, inadequate capacity in the maternity care system, lack of coordination between health and social services for low-income women and inhospitable conditions at some sites where prenatal care is delivered. The personal beliefs, knowledge, attitudes, fears and lifestyles of some pregnant women also constitute obstacles to care. For example, having an unwanted pregnancy, attaching little value to prenatal care and having a tenuous connection to the health care system in general are important predictors of insufficient care. Encouraging universal participation in prenatal care will require a major overhaul of the maternity care system. However, while consensus for fundamental reform builds, several immediate steps should be taken--such as reducing financial barriers to care; expanding the capacity of the maternity care system; improving the policies and practices that shape prenatal services at the site where they are delivered; and increasing public information.     

The Influence of Site of Care on the Content of Prenatal Care for Low-Income Women

Objective: To assess whether site of prenatal care influences the content of prenatal care for low-income women. Design: Bivariate and logistic analyses of prenatal care content for low-income women provided at five different types of care sites (private offices, HMOs, publicly funded clinics, hospital clinics, and other sites of care), controlling for sociodemographic, behavioral, and maternal health characteristics. Participants: A sample of 3405 low-income women selected from a nationally representative sample of 9953 women surveyed by the National Maternal and Infant Health Survey, who had singleton live births in 1988, had some prenatal care (PNC), Medicaid participation, or a family income less than $12,000/year. Outcome Measures: Maternal report of seven initial PNC procedures (individually and combined), six areas of PNC advice (individually and combined), and participation in the Women Infant Children (WIC) nutrition program. Results: The content of PNC provided for low-income women does not meet the recommendations of the U.S. Public Health Service, and varies by site of delivery. Low-income women in publicly funded clinics (health departments and community health centers) report receiving more total initial PNC procedures and total PNC advice and have greater participation in the WIC program than similar women receiving PNC in private offices. Conclusions: Publicly funded sites of care appear to provide more comprehensive prenatal care services than private office settings. Health care systems reforms which assume equality of care across all sites, or which limit services to restricted sites, may foster unequal access to comprehensive PNC.     

Low-income pregnant adolescents and their infants: dietary findings and health outcomes

Dietary and other health-related data were obtained for 99 low-income, pregnant adolescents aged 13 to 19 years and their infants who were enrolled in the Teen Pregnancy Service (TPS). The dietetic services provided through TPS are highlighted for this sample of teens, 97% of whom were eligible for the WIC program. Average gestational age at time of enrollment for prenatal care was 18 weeks; 59% of the sample was anemic (hemoglobin value less than 120 gm/L). The average number of servings teens consumed each day from the four food groups was as follows: bread/grain, 5.0; milk, 2.8; meat, 2.8; and fruit/vegetable, 2.3. Teens who were overweight before pregnancy had heavier infants (mean = 3,344 gm) than their underweight peers (mean = 2,770 gm). Teens who gained 24 lb or less during pregnancy and who gave birth to full-term infants had infants with significantly lower birth weights (mean = 3,094 gm, p less than .008) than those who gained at least 25 lb (mean = 3,356 gm). Teens who smoked also had infants with lower birth weights than teens who did not smoke. Most teens bottle-fed their infants (82%). On the basis of our data, we conclude that low-income pregnant teens are likely to be at dietary risk. Dietary work with low-income pregnant adolescents is challenging and requires a thorough knowledge base about adolescent pregnancy, coupled with the ability to adapt traditional dietary counseling practices to meet the unique needs of these clients.     

An Assessment of the Use and Impact of Ancillary Prenatal Care Services to Medicaid Women in Managed Care

Objectives: Managed care plans under Medicaid are becoming a usual source of care for low-income pregnant women. This study describes an ancillary prenatal care service intervention developed by one managed care organization (MCO) for Medicaid-enrolled women, assesses the extent to which the intervention services were used, and appraises the influence of the intervention on prenatal care participation. Method: There were 226 intervention and 258 control women with a single live birth delivered between 28 and 44 weeks gestation who (1) were enrolled in the MCO's Medicaid program, (2) were high-risk based on a prenatal risk assessment, and (3) started prenatal care prior to 26 weeks gestation. Less than adequate and intensive prenatal care utilization were chosen as intervention outcomes measures. Results: Family planning, a 2-month postpartum baby visit, a maternal postpartum visit, and a WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) referral were among the most self-selected intervention services for this population; home health aide and breast-feeding support were the least requested services. Over 90% of those needing family planning or breast-feeding services received the services, while over 20% of the intervention group refused child care, food assistance and family violence referrals, and home health aide and smoking cessation services. The intervention group had a significantly lower risk of less than adequate utilization of prenatal care (OR = .32; 95% CI: 0.17–0.60) and was more likely to have an intensive number of prenatal care visits (OR = 1.61; 95% CI: 1.05–2.48). Conclusions: The ability of managed care organizations to provide ongoing prenatal care to Medicaid populations in a cost-effective manner depends partly on their development of packages of prenatal services that foster positive preventive health care utilization behaviors and good pregnancy outcomes. The results of this project suggest that the intervention was beneficial in the area of improving utilization of prenatal care.     

Women's priorities for lay health home visitors: implications for eliminating health disparities among underserved women

While racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities in maternal and child health persist among women, few studies describe experiences of low-income women during pregnancy. We undertook a qualitative study of women's self-reported experiences with home visitors to gain understanding of priorities for participation and service delivery. Lay health home visitors provided satisfactory services and maintained close relationships with their clients. The mother-to-mother relationship is critical in facilitating continued participation in and ensuring positive health and social outcomes from lay health home visitation services. Many women lacked sufficient social support during their pregnancy and received this from the health visitor. Appropriate integration of lay health visitors with traditional prenatal care may alleviate many of the deleterious stressors that low-income women experience and may ultimately impact racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in maternal and child health.     

Identifying Barriers Preventing Latina Women from Accessing WIC Online Health Information

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a program for low-income women and children under age five. The purpose of this study was to identify barriers to accessing online WIC resources among Latina WIC clients. Five focus groups were conducted with Spanish-speaking participants recruited from a single WIC clinic. Two key themes emerged relating to barriers in accessing WIC’s online resources. The first theme, access issues, included three subthemes: lack of computer/Internet resources; family barriers to computer use; and computer literacy. The second theme, perceived value of the website, included three subthemes: limited time savings; preference for on-site education; and knowledge about the website. This is the first study to evaluate barriers to accessing online resources among Latina women in the WIC program. WIC sites attempting to increase utilization of online resources may be more successful if they serve clients with easy access to a computer with Internet access. They may also consider strategies to increase the value of the online resources, as compared to their current services offered to clients in a face-to-face setting.     

Differentiating the barriers to adequate prenatal care in Missouri, 1987-88

Inadequate prenatal care has previously been identified as a significant risk factor for women who have low birth weight infants and infants who die during the neonatal period. Postpartum interviews with 1,484 primarily low-income women were conducted during 1987-88 in three areas of Missouri with the highest rates of inadequate prenatal care. The purpose of the study was to identify barriers to prenatal care and to determine which barriers differentiated between women receiving adequate and those receiving inadequate prenatal care. Women who received inadequate prenatal care were more likely to be black, unmarried, higher parity, and have less education than those who received adequate care. These women were also more likely to be poor, Medicaid-eligible, to have had an unwanted pregnancy, more stress and problems during pregnancy, and less social support. In the multivariate analysis, race and marital status lost their importance. The strongest predictor of inadequate prenatal care was women not knowing that they were pregnant in the first 4 months of pregnancy (adjusted odds ratio 9.28). To improve the rate of adequate prenatal care, society must address the issues of poverty and wantedness of pregnancy.     

Referrals of participants in an urban WIC program to health and welfare services.

The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides supplemental food, nutrition education, and referrals to available health and welfare services. Recipients are income-eligible pregnant and postpartum women, their infants, and their children who are younger than 5 years of age. Although studies have documented the nutritional benefits of the program, the extent to which WIC nutritionists help eligible women to obtain available health and welfare services, and the degree to which this referral activity promotes health, is largely unknown. The researchers examined the referral activity at one urban WIC clinic, but did not evaluate the outcomes. Of 1,850 persons seen, there were 762 referrals by WIC nutritionists for 597 persons at the Lawrence, MA, clinic during a 2-month period. Of the 597 persons, 494 (83 percent) were WIC participants and 103 (17 percent) were nonparticipants. The rate of referrals for WIC participants was 27 percent. Multiple referrals were common, with 127 people receiving more than one referral. WIC nutritionists at this site offered a variety of referrals to their clients. The majority of referrals (61.7 percent) were for supplemented food. Nonnutrition-related referrals were to medical and dental services (20.5 percent), developmental and educational services (12.5 percent), and social services (5.4 percent). Nonnutrition-related referrals for women included referrals for family planning, substance abuse, job training, teenaged parenting, and high school equivalency programs. Infants and children were referred for dental care, growth failure, the Head Start Program, kindergarten enrollment, early intervention, and protective services.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Child participation in WIC: Medicaid costs and use of health care services

OBJECTIVES: We used data from birth certificates, Medicaid, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to examine the relationship of child participation in WIC to Medicaid costs and use of health care services in North Carolina. METHODS: We linked Medicaid enrollment, Medicaid paid claims, and WIC participation files to birth certificates for children born in North Carolina in 1992. We used multiple regression analysis to estimate the effects of WIC participation on the use of health care services and Medicaid costs. RESULTS: Medicaid-enrolled children participating in the WIC program showed greater use of all types of health care services compared with Medicaid-enrolled children who were not WIC participants. CONCLUSIONS: The health care needs of low-income children who participate in WIC may be better met than those of low-income children not participating in WIC.     

PrePare: a program of enhanced prenatal services within health-maintenance organization settings

This paper presents the conceptual framework and implementation strategies of a relationship-focused behavioral intervention for pregnant women and their families. The program, PrePare ('Prenatal Parenting'), was designed as a prenatal precursor to the pediatric health care model, Healthy Steps. PrePare includes preventive intervention elements that address parents' universal concerns about pregnancy and parenthood, as well as specific activities to support optimum pregnancy health and reduce high-risk behaviors. As described here, the program is embedded within a large not-for-profit health-maintenance organization (HMO). Delivery of the prenatal component is carried out by Healthy Steps interventionists through three home visits and telephone follow-up during mothers' second and third trimesters of pregnancy. An evaluation of program outcomes is underway. The design compares three groups of families, those who receive PrePare followed by Healthy Steps, Healthy Steps alone and a usual HMO-practice comparison. It is hypothesized that initiating expanded services during the prenatal period will lead to increases in reported patient satisfaction, provider satisfaction and organizational efficiency within the health care delivery system.     

Interdisciplinary Community-Based Oral Health Program for Women and Children at WIC

Objectives To evaluate the women, infants, and children (WIC) Oral Health Program in a county in Florida. Methods The non-traditional interdisciplinary program of the current study was designed to reach at-risk populations with untreated dental diseases and limited access to care; it provides oral health education, dental screenings, preventive dental services, and referrals for women, children, and families at WIC offices. We evaluated the health status of patients enrolled in the program and the services provided. Results From 2013 to 2016, the program provided dental screenings for 576 children and 180 women. Caries prevalence for 3–5 year olds was 46.0%. Only 6.6% (12/114) of pregnant women were eligible for comprehensive dental care under Medicaid (<?21 years). Further, 71.2% (47/66) of all pregnant women had unmet dental care needs. Conclusions for Practice Our results suggested that many children and women had untreated dental diseases and need preventive services and dental care. Also, many pregnant women were not covered by Medicaid. This program demonstrates that collaboration with the WIC program can improve access to oral health services for underserved populations.     

Perinatal health service use by women released from jail

Few studies have examined health care access for the growing population of pregnant women who cycle in and out of urban jails. The present study compared use of Medicaid-funded perinatal services for births to women who were in jail during pregnancy and births to women who had been in jail, but not while pregnant. Jail contact during pregnancy increased the likelihood women would receive prenatal care (odds ratio [OR] = 5.95; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.18-16.23) and maternity support services (OR = 1.80; 95% CI 1.12-2.88), but was associated with fewer total prenatal and support visits. Jail contact during a previous pregnancy was associated with fewer prenatal care visits, more support service visits, and longer time receiving case management. Jail settings can become a place of coordination between public health and criminal justice professionals to ensure that pregnant women receive essential services following release. Service coordination may increase women's engagement in health services during future pregnancies, with or without subsequent incarceration.     

The Effect of Pregnancy Intention on Important Maternal Behaviors and Satisfaction with Care in a Socially and Economically At-Risk Population

This study examined the association of pregnancy intention with maternal behaviors and the woman’s perceived satisfaction with her prenatal and delivery care. Face-to-face interviews with 478 primarily Medicaid eligible women in Indianapolis, Indiana during their postpartum hospital stay were conducted to assess their degree of satisfaction with prenatal care and pregnancy intention, stratified into wanting to be pregnant now, later or never. Behaviors and characteristics influencing utilization of prenatal care were obtained from linked birth certificate data. A greater proportion of younger women (15–29) wanted to be pregnant later, a greater proportion of African-Americans never wanted to be pregnant, a greater proportion of divorced and never married women wanted to be pregnant later or never, and as parity increased the percentage of women never wanting to be pregnant increased. Multivariate analyses found that women never wanting to be pregnant were twice as likely to underutilize prenatal care, twice as likely to smoke while pregnant, half as likely to utilize WIC services and half as likely to recommend their providers to pregnant friends or relatives compared to women with a planned pregnancy, controlling for confounding variables. Finally, women wanting to be pregnant later were half as likely to rate their overall hospital care and prenatal care provider as high. Providers assessing their patients’ pregnancy intention could better identify those women needing additional support services to adopt healthier behaviors and improve satisfaction with care. This study also demonstrated the value of more specific definitions of pregnancy intention.     

Integrating smoking cessation into routine public prenatal care: the Smoking Cessation in Pregnancy project.

OBJECTIVES. In 1986, the state health departments of Colorado, Maryland, and Missouri conducted a federally-funded demonstration project to increase smoking cessation among pregnant women receiving prenatal care and services from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program in public clinics. METHODS. Low-intensity interventions were designed to be integrated into routine prenatal care. Clinics were randomly assigned to intervention or control status; pregnant smokers filled out questionnaires and gave urine specimens at enrollment, in the eighth month of pregnancy, and postpartum. Urine cotinine concentrations were determined at CDC by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and were used to verify self-reported smoking status. RESULTS. At the eighth month of pregnancy, self-reported quitting was higher for intervention clinics than control clinics in all three states. However, the cotinine-verified quit rates were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS. Biochemical verification of self-reported quitting is essential to the evaluation of smoking cessation interventions. Achieving changes in smoking behavior in pregnant women with low-intensity interventions is difficult.     

北京市朝阳区825例流动孕产妇产前检查现状及影响因素分析

目的了解北京市朝阳区流动孕产妇产前检查的基本现状及相关影响因素,为制定流动孕产妇孕期保健服务的相关卫生政策提供参考依据。方法采用分层整群抽样,选取朝阳区流动人口相对密集的7个街道/乡镇随机抽取825例流动产妇(对象为1岁以下儿童母亲)进行回顾性问卷调查。结果流动产妇中认为妊娠期间需要进行产前检查的为93.0%,而实际孕期建立《母子健康档案》的只占35.5%;21.2%的流动产妇在私人诊所做过产前检查。在对医院服务的综合评价中最不满意的是就诊等候时间。结论私人诊所为流动孕产妇提供廉价和不健全的产前检查服务这一因素不容忽视。通过取缔非法行医诊所,改善医疗管理体制,制定合理的收费标准,以满足不同层次流动孕产妇的孕期保健需求;加大宣传力度是增强孕产妇主动寻求孕期保健服务的有效手段。