Racial Differences in Prenatal Care Use in the United States: Are Disparities Decreasing?
Greg R. Alexander, RS, MPH, ScD,
Michael D. Kogan, PhD and
Sara Nabukera, MD, MPH
Greg R. Alexander and Sara Nabukera are with the School of Public Health, Department of Maternal and Child Health, the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Michael D. Kogan is with the Office of Data and Information Management, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Greg R. Alexander, Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, RPHB 320, 1530 3rd Ave South, Birmingham, Alabama 352940022 (e-mail: alexandg{at}uab.edu).
Objectives. We examined trends and racial disparities (White,African American) in trimester of prenatal care initiation andadequacy of prenatal care utilization for US women and specifichigh-risk subgroups, e.g., unmarried, young, or less-educatedmothers.
Methods. Data from 19811998 US natality files on singletonlive births to US resident mothers were examined.
Results. Overall, early and adequate use of care improved forboth racial groups, and racial disparities in prenatal careuse have been markedly reduced, except for some young mothers.
Conclusions. While improvements are evident, it is doubtfulthat the Healthy People 2000 objective for prenatal care willsoon be attained for African Americans or Whites. Further effortsare needed to understand influences on and to address barriersto prenatal care.
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