The Effects of Marriage and Being a Parent on Prenatal Physician Visits for Chamorro, Filipino, White and Other Asian and Pacific Island Women on Guam

PURPOSE OF THE PAPER: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of marital status, parental status, and ethnicity on the frequency of prenatal physician visitations reported by Chamorro, Filipino, White, and other Asian and Pacific Island women residing in Guam. SUMMARY OF METHODS UTILIZED: Data were extracted from birth records and analyzed using ordinary least squares multiple regression. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We found that ethnic effects remained even when age, education, and region of residence on Guam were held constant. Marriage had a significant and positive effect on prenatal visitations, and a number of previoius children had significant negative effect on prenatal visitations. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that spouses encourage positive health behaviors while the expectations of parenting detract significantly from the amount of time women can devote to caring for themselves. RELEVANCE TO ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER AMERICAN POPULATIONS: Our results indicate that marital status may be more important than educational levels for understanding the health care behaviors of Chamorro, Filipina, and other Asian and Pacific Island women on Guam. KEY WORDS: Chamorro, Filipino, prenatal visitations, marital status, parental status.