Prenatal care and infant birth outcomes among Medicaid recipients.
Infant morbidity due to low birth weight and preterm births results in emotional suffering and significant direct and indirect costs. African American infants continue to have worse birth outcomes than white infants. This study examines relationships between newborn hospital costs, maternal risk factors, and prenatal care in Medicaid recipients in an impoverished rural county in South Carolina. Medicaid African American mothers gave birth to fewer preterm infants than did non-Medicaid African American mothers. No differences in the rates of preterm infants were noted between white and African American mothers in the Medicaid group. Access to Medicaid services may have contributed to this reduction in disparities due to race. Early initiation of prenatal care compared with later initiation did not improve birth outcomes. Infants born to mothers who initiated prenatal care early had increased morbidity with increased utilization of hospital services, suggesting that high-risk mothers are entering prenatal care earlier.
Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Health Sciences, Kansas City, Missouri, USA.
V James
VJ
Guillory
Michael E
ME
Samuels
Janice C
JC
Probst
Glynda
G
Sharp
D000328:Adult; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008484:Medicaid / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D013022:South Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors