An analysis of Georgia mothers who gave birth in 2015 and 2016 without receiving prenatal care

Abstract

Background: The present study characterizes the population of women residing in the state of Georgia who did not receive prenatal care before giving birth to a live infant. The association between mother’s place of residence (rural/non-rural) and preterm delivery was also examined. Methods: This study examined data obtained from the Georgia Department of Public Health which includes data for 7,062 mothers who did not receive prenatal care before giving birth to a live infant in Georgia in the years 2015 and 2016. Data on the resulting births was also studied. Descriptive analyses of the following variables were used to characterize mothers not receiving prenatal care: mother’s age, race/ethnicity, education level, and county of residence in Georgia. Multivariable logistic regression examined the association between rural and non-rural residence in Georgia and the outcome of preterm birth, controlling for age, race, and education level. Results: From 2015 to 2016 there were a total of 261,273 live births in Georgia, of which 2.91% of births were from mothers who received no prenatal care. Of these infants, 21.53% were born preterm, 12.12% were born low birth weight and 5.34% were born very low birth weight. There was no statistically significant difference observed for preterm births between rural and non-rural mothers who did not receive prenatal care (p= 0.0873). Conclusions: Continued monitoring of Georgia women not receiving prenatal care is needed. The findings from this study can assist the state of Georgia in tailoring healthcare outreach efforts and in formulating population-specific intervention strategies that aim to improve access and allocation of prenatal care resources throughout the state of Georgia.

Keywords

• prenatal care
• rural healthcare
• preterm birth
• maternal and child health
• women’s health