Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #113982

Isabel Auerbach, MPH, CHES, Community Health Education Section, San Francisco Department of Public Health, 30 Van Ness Ave, Suite 2300, San Francisco, CA 94102, 415.575.5684, isabel.auerbach@sfdph.org

As part of the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Perinatal Outreach and Education Program in the Maternal and Child Health Section, we compiled and charted perinatal data for San Francisco for a six-year period. The charts are designed to inform perinatal providers of recent local trends in maternal behavior and perinatal health and compare our progress to the federal Healthy People 2010 objectives. Since the educational levels and job duties of the providers vary greatly, definitions of measures in the charts are included. First, we present the number of total births. Then, by ethnic/racial groups, we show the following rates: first trimester entry into prenatal care, late or no entry into prenatal care, adequacy of prenatal care utilization, low birth weight newborns, very low birth weight newborns, and infant mortality. Lastly, for comparison, we include two historical charts showing the rates over several decades for infant mortality and first trimester entry into prenatal care for the entire United States. The San Francisco charts and the national charts, while showing continual improvement, also show clear and continual ethnic/racial disparities. In general, whites do the best in all measures, followed closely by Asian. Latinas lag in some measures and so well in others. African-Americans consistently have the poorest rates. We discuss the reasons for racial disparities, the ‘Latina paradox,' the risk factors for the various measures, and suggest possible program interventions to increase maternal and perinatal health.

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