Prenatal Care

Indicator Definition
The percentage of women who received prenatal care after first trimester and those who received no care during pregnancy.

Women who started prenatal care later than first trimester or not at all in Colorado5*

Women who started prenatal care later than first trimester or not at all by race in Colorado6

Indicator Significance
Women who receive prenatal care early in their pregnancy tend to have bigger, healthier babies and suffer fewer complications associated with childbirth. Those early prenatal visits help assure they have a healthy pregnancy, and receive proper guidance about diet, nutrition and exercise. Prenatal care providers also monitor weight gain and health risk factors throughout the pregnancy. Although prenatal care cannot fully eliminate the risk factors associated with poverty and age, early access to comprehensive prenatal care enables women to make healthy lifestyle choices during pregnancy. The number of women in the United States receiving prenatal care in the first trimester has risen from 76 percent in 1990 to 84 percent in 2003.¹ 

Colorado Specifics 
Colorado ranks low among states, 31^st among the 38 reporting, in delayed prenatal care. The number of Colorado women receiving late or no prenatal care has remained fairly constant over the past seven years at around 20 percent. Hispanic, Black and American Indian women have higher rates of delayed or no prenatal care when compared to White or Asian, pregnant women in Colorado.² 

Promising Initiatives
In Colorado
B4 Babies and Beyond provides a single unified entry point into prenatal care services for low-income women in Mesa County. B4 Babies has successfully reduced the number of babies born at a low birth weight. It was recognized in 1998 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a “Model That Works.” The program has proven so successful that 100 percent of physicians and certified nurse midwives who deliver babies in Mesa County and 98 percent of the pediatric and family practice physicians participate in the program.³ 

Elsewhere
California’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program has replicated Colorado’s Nurse Family Partnership program in nine counties. Outreach focuses on first-time mothers referred to the program through the Department of Employment and Temporary Assistance, doctors, school nurses and door-to-door outreach in communities with high-risk populations. The program involves regular home visits by a nurse who consults with pregnant women on their physical and social needs. A licensed mental health clinician may accompany the nurse on home visits. Expectant mothers receive an average of nine visits during pregnancy and 14 follow-up visits. The program succeeded in decreasing low-birth weight rates and increasing the immunization rate of infants during their first 18 months of life.⁴ 

Women who started prenatal care later than first trimester or not at all⁷

Text

1. Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau. “Women’s Health USA 2005”; 2005.
   
2. Child Trends DataBank. “Late or No Prenatal Care”; 2003.
   
3. Hilltop.
   
4. Pathways Mapping Initiative.
   

Charts

5. Source: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Vital Statistics, 2000 – 2006.
   
   * Note: Prenatal care estimates from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) differ slightly from rates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) used to rank states.
   
   
6. Source: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Vital Statistics, 2006.
   
7. Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Vital Statistics System, 2005.