Correlates of first trimester care in a public health prenatal clinic.

Abstract

Early access to prenatal care is a major issue in the prevention of low birth weight. Therefore, the authors studied 107 indigent women seen consecutively for their initial visits at a public health department's prenatal clinic to ascertain factors associated with first trimester care. The questionnaire included items on individual health behaviors, attitudes toward medical care, perceived social support, depression, and demographics. Data were collected over 12 weeks by a clinic nurse, and all patients agreed to participate. Using logit estimated odds ratios (OR), none of the independent variables examined were associated with first trimester care for married women. For unmarried women first trimester care was related to finding the clinic by word of mouth (OR = 5.5, 95% CI, 1.2-22.9) and maternal depression (OR = 4.0, 95% CI, 1.1-15.3). Finding the prenatal clinic by word of mouth and maternal depression were still associated with first trimester care after controlling for maternal education and health attitudes. These data suggest that subsequent explanatory research should explore the association between informal social support of unmarried women and first trimester prenatal care.