title: Two methods of estimating the target population for public maternity services programs.
abstract: One difficulty in estimating the target population for public health programs is identifying a current and appropriate indicator of the low-income population. Using data from Mississippi and Maryland, we determined that educational attainment of women giving birth is a feasible substitute for census data in estimating the low-income maternity population, and that vital statistics data offer several advantages for estimating the maternity services target population over census data.
mesh_terms: D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008396:Maryland; D008427:Maternal Health Services; D008922:Mississippi; D011203:Poverty; D014798:Vital Statistics