Factors affecting number of prenatal care visits during second pregnancy among adolescents having rapid repeat births.
OBJECTIVE
To examine factors associated with the number of prenatal care visits during second pregnancy for adolescents having a short interval between pregnancies.


METHODS
The sample includes all adolescents aged 13 to 17 years whose first pregnancy resulted in a birth at a regional medical center in southeastern North Carolina from January 1983 to December 1989 and who had a repeat pregnancy within 24 months which resulted in a birth. We abstracted data from medical records and birth certificates. We fit a negative binomial regression model to determine the effects of various factors on the number of prenatal care visits during second pregnancy.


RESULTS
The number of prenatal care visits during the first pregnancy, poor first birth outcome, interval between first and second pregnancy, and care provided by health department staff during first pregnancy were all positively associated with number of prenatal care visits during second pregnancy when controlling for gestation age of second birth. Other independent variables in the model included maternal age, education, black race, and being unmarried at the time of second birth.


CONCLUSIONS
Because prenatal care is important for healthy mothers and babies, adolescents should be encouraged to seek prenatal care early in the first pregnancy. This could be an important time to implement interventions aimed at increasing prenatal care utilization in this and subsequent pregnancies.
Coastal Area Health Education Center, Wilmington, North Carolina 28402-9025.
D L
DL
Covington
M P
MP
Churchill
B D
BD
Wright
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000367:Age Factors; D016010:Binomial Distribution; D003153:Community Health Services; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017533:Marital Status; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011253:Pregnancy in Adolescence / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012044:Regression Analysis