title: Mexico's Seguro Popular Appears To Have Helped Reduce The Risk Of Preterm Delivery Among Women With Low Education.
abstract: Beginning in 2001 Mexico established Seguro Popular, a health insurance scheme aimed at providing coverage to its large population of uninsured people. While recent studies have evaluated the health benefits of Seguro Popular, evidence on perinatal health outcomes is lacking. We conducted a population-based study using Mexican birth certificate data for 2010 to assess the relationship between enrollment in Seguro Popular and preterm delivery among first-time mothers with singleton births in Mexico. Seguro Popular enrollees with no formal education had a far greater reduction in risk of preterm delivery, while enrollees with any formal education experienced only slight reduction in risk, after maternal age, marital status, education level, mode of delivery, and trimester in which prenatal care was initiated were controlled for. Seguro Popular appears to facilitate access to health services among mothers with low levels of education, reducing their risk for preterm delivery. Providing broad-scale health insurance coverage may help improve perinatal health outcomes in this vulnerable population.
authors.affiliation: Carly Strouse is a doctoral candidate in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Carly
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Strouse
authors.affiliation: Ricardo Perez-Cuevas is a social protection and health senior specialist in the Division of Social Protection and Health at the Inter-American Development Bank, in Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perez-Cuevas
authors.affiliation: Maureen Lahiff is a lecturer in the Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lahiff
authors.affiliation: Julia Walsh is an adjunct professor in the Division of Community Health and Human Development, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.affiliation: Sylvia Guendelman (sylviag@berkeley.edu) is a professor in the Division of Community Health and Human Development and chair of the Maternal and Child Health Program in the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley.
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Guendelman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001719:Birth Certificates; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008423:Maternal Age; D000068097:Maternal Health / Q000191:economics*; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008800:Mexico; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Insurance Coverage < Insurance; International/global health studies; Maternal And Child Health; Public Health