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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
R.S. Benjamin-Coleman, RN, MPH, PhD, School of Nursing, Old Dominion University, 4608 Hampton Blvd, Norfolk, VA 23529-0500, 757-683-5256, rcoleman@odu.edu and Vanessa B. Sheppard, PhD, MA, Lombardi Cancer Center, Cancer Control Program, Georgetown University Medical Center, 2233 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Suite 317, Washington, DC 20007.
One family in 100 will suffer the loss of their child soon after birth. Sixty percent of these infant deaths are caused by babies being born weighing less than 2500 grams at birth. Sixty percent of low birth weight babies are born prematurely. Studies have shown that early and adequate prenatal care throughout pregnancy is correlated with lower rates of low birth weights and preterm births. In the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, rates for low weight births and infant mortality are both above that of the state. According to CDC 1998 data, African American women delivered the greatest amount of preterm births (17.5%) compared to births for white women (10.5%) and Hispanic women (11.4%). The goal of Healthy People 2010 is to reduce the overall preterm birth rates from 11.6% to 7.6%. The purpose of this project is twofold: 1) to evaluate the effectiveness of media and printed materials in informing women about pregnancy and its complications, and 2) to identify barriers to seeking prenatal care for women. The participants in the project are women who are pregnant or recently delivered an infant within the last 6 months. The following themes provided the structure of the focus groups: 1) Impressions of a 30-sec public service video about babies born too early, 2) knowledge of preterm labor warnings signs, and 3) barriers to prenatal care. Summary of the women's responses and socio-demographic characteristics will be described.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Pregnancy Outcomes, Interventions
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.