ISSN: 2578-5095
Authors: Iqbal MT and Iqbal MM*
Purpose: To identify associations between timing of prenatal care, various pregnancy outcomes, and Medicaid within and across various aggregate population levels. Data: The data for prenatal utilization, birth outcomes, and insurance were obtained from Central for Disease Control (CDC) Vital Statistics, Kaiser Family Foundation, National Health Expenditure, the New York State Minority Health Surveillance Report, and the New York State Community Health Data Set. Methods: Descriptive statistics were run on all variables at all population levels to gauge the variability and characteristics of the study population. Bivariate (simple regression) analysis was then used to identify associations among variables and timing of prenatal care at all aggregate population levels of analysis. Results: Early prenatal care was only found to be associated with reduced adverse birth outcomes at the national and regional aggregate population levels. The percent of births financed by Medicaid was also found to be associated with adverse birth outcomes and reduced per capita Medicaid spending at the national level. Conclusions: Initiation of early prenatal care may result in reduction of adverse birth outcomes but these benefits may be difficult to measure due to current limitations in measuring the quality and content of prenatal care. Furthermore, prenatal care needs to be adjusted to reflect the specific needs of high risk pregnant women, with an emphasis on quality of visits over quantity of visits.
Keywords: Birth; Population; Prenatal Care; Pregnancy
