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Disparities in Prenatal Care Utilization Among U.S. Versus Foreign-Born Women with Chronic Conditions

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Abstract

We examined disparities in prenatal care utilization (PNCU) among U.S. and foreign-born women with chronic conditions. We performed a cross-sectional analyses using data from 2011 to 2012 National Center for Health Statistics Natality Files (n = 6,644,577) to examine the association between maternal nativity (U.S. vs. foreign-born), presence of a chronic condition (diabetes or hypertensive disorder) and PNCU. After adjustment for selected maternal characteristics, overall and among those with chronic conditions, foreign-born women reported significantly lower odds of intensive and adequate PNCU and higher odds of intermediate and inadequate PNCU than U.S.-born women. Few differences in report of no care were found by maternal nativity. These findings suggest that foreign-born women may be receiving some form of prenatal care, but adequacy of care is likely to be lower compared to U.S.-born counterparts, even among those with chronic conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, College of Medicine, Florida State University, 1115 W. Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-4300, USA

    Samantha S. Goldfarb

  2. Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Whitney Smith & Anne E. Epstein

  3. Carbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

    Stevie Burrows

  4. Maternal and Child Health Policy and Leadership Program, Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

    Martha Wingate

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  1. Samantha S. Goldfarb
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Correspondence to Samantha S. Goldfarb.

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Goldfarb, S.S., Smith, W., Epstein, A.E. et al. Disparities in Prenatal Care Utilization Among U.S. Versus Foreign-Born Women with Chronic Conditions. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 1263–1270 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0435-x

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