The role of medical problems and behavioral risks in explaining patterns of prenatal care use among high-risk women.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between maternal medical conditions and behavioral risks and the patterns of prenatal care use among high-risk women.

DATA SOURCE/STUDY DESIGN: Data on over 25,000 high-risk deliveries to African American and white women using multinomial logistic regression to predict the odds of adequate-plus care relative to three other categories of care.

DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Data were extracted from records maintained by the University of Florida/Shands Hospital maternity clinic on all deliveries between 1987 and 1994; records for white and for African American women were subset to examine racial differences in medical conditions, health behaviors, and patterns of prenatal care use.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Net of sociodemographic and fertility-related characteristics, African American and white women with late antepartum conditions and hypertension problems had significantly higher odds of receiving adequate-plus care, as well as no care or inadequate care, relative to adequate care. White women with gynecological disease and medical/surgical problems were significantly less likely to receive no care or inadequate care, as were African American women with gynecological disease.

CONCLUSIONS: Maternal medical conditions explain much but not all of the adequate-plus prenatal care use. More than 13 percent of African American women and 20 percent of white women with no reported medical problems or behavioral risks used adequate-plus care. Additional research is needed to understand this excess use and its possibilities in mediating birth outcomes.