Community Assessment Data
A Guide to Understanding the Well-Being of Children & Families in Erie County, Pennsylvania

Lack of Early Prenatal Care

CHARTS

Prenatal Care Totals for 1997 to 2001 by Municipality

Prenatal Care Totals for 1997 to 2001 by County

Prenatal Care Totals for 1997 to 2001 by Cities


MEASUREMENT

Figures for trimester by birth weight¹ and trimester by age information² for the state and counties are from the PA Health Department as is the information on municipalities in Erie County.³ Information on the City of Erie, Erie County, PA & USA in addition to the information by race is from the Erie County Department of Health.4 The percentage of women lacking early prenatal care is the number of women receiving no prenatal care or starting prenatal care after the first trimester (after third month of pregnancy) divided by the total number of births, and multiplied by 100.

Data comparing the national, state, county and city statistics and those comparing those areas by race did not contain information about the number of births in which the status of prenatal care was unknown. Those with unknown status may have been included in those who did not begin prenatal care in the first trimester.

State data was provided by the Bureau of Health Statistics and Research, Pennsylvania Department of Health. Local data was provided by the Erie County Department of Health, Erie County Vital Statistics Database and Health Care Cost Summit – Health Status Indicators Project. These entities specifically disclaim responsibility for any analyses, interpretations or conclusions.

DESCRIPTION

Early, comprehensive prenatal care increases the likelihood of delivering babies of normal weight and a full gestation. Early prenatal care, beginning during the first trimester or first three months of pregnancy, can encourage good health habits during pregnancy, can lead to early detection of medical problems, and can become a gateway to parenting support, education, and assistance with nutrition, housing and other services and supports. Early prenatal care can also reduce health care costs associated with neonatal intensive care for low birth weight babies.

DATA ANALYSIS

• For 2000, the Erie County percentage of late or no prenatal care was 22.6% higher than the US percentage and 38.3% higher than the Pennsylvania rate. The City of Erie percentage was 48.2% higher than the US and 67.1% higher than the Pennsylvania percentage.
• Although Erie County had the highest percentage of pregnant women receiving late or no prenatal care of all Urban Third Class Counties in 2001, it had by far the lowest percentage of cases in which the status of prenatal care was unknown.
• Only Harrisburg had a higher percentage of pregnant women who did not receive early prenatal care than the City of Erie.
• The percentage of Whites in Erie County who did not receive early prenatal care was 22.0% higher than for the US and 47.6% higher than the state in 2000. For Whites in the City of Erie, the percentages were 28.0% higher than the US and 54.8% for Pennsylvania.
• During 200, the percentage of Blacks in Erie County who lacked early prenatal care was 52.9% higher than the US and 43.3% higher than Pennsylvania. For Blacks in the City of Erie, the rates were 52.9% higher than the US and 43.4% higher than the state.
• For those births in which both the prenatal care status and the weight of the newborn is known in 2001, there is a lower likelihood of having a low birth weight baby if prenatal care is begun early.
• Although women under age 20 generally are less likely to receive early prenatal care, Erie County has a striking disparity. Even with the highest percentage among Urban Third Counties for women 20 and over, the rate for those under age 20 is more than twice as high.

FOOTNOTE

¹ Residant Live Births by Trimester of First Prenatal Visit. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2003, from http://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health/lib/health/BRX012P_01.pdf.

² Resident Live Births by Trimester of First Prenatal Visit. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2003, from http://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health/lib/health/BRXO48P_01.pdf.

³ Births by Trimester of the First Prenatal Visit. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2003, from http://webserver.health.state.pa.us/health/lib/health/prexmcd.pdf.

⁴ Percentage of First Trimester Prenatal Care. (n.d.) Retrieved February 10, 2003, from http://www.ecdh.org/documents/First_trimester.pdf.