Prenatal Care
As indicated earlier, the poverty rate is high for female heads of households—39.9 percent in 2000. Indigent mothers typically neither seek nor receive prenatal care and poor nutrition is a common problem. Entry into care is the lowest for younger pregnant women. Even when prenatal care is available, younger women do not enter care in the first trimester. Community efforts, therefore, should focus on pregnant young women.
Teenagers account for the majority of pregnant drug users, but even drug-free teens put their babies at risk. When prenatal care is neglected, the high costs of saving and caring for a newborn often fall to the locality through its human service programs.
The key to reducing infant mortality is early access to quality prenatal care. Expanded Medicaid has reduced the financial barriers to access to prenatal care. Recipients must join a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). As HMO members, recipients have access to private physician care, improving the continuity from prenatal through postpartum care. Total obstetrical care is available from private physicians, Riverside Regional Medical Obstetrical/Gynecological Residency Practice, and Peninsula Institute for Community Health (PICH) located in the southeastern and Denbigh sections of the City. The National goal is for 90 percent of pregnant women to enter care in the first trimester.