ASSESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF FAMILY-STRUCTURE IN UNDERSTANDING BIRTH OUTCOMES

In this study, we address the effect of family structure on adequacy o f prenatal care and resultant birth outcomes by examining data for 18, 594 women who experienced either a live birth, fetal death, or infant death in 1988. Using Kotelchuck's adequacy of care index, we find majo r differences in the effect of family structure across racial/ethnic g roups. For Hispanics, women living with the father of the expected chi ld, as opposed to living alone or in an extended family, have substant ially higher probabilities of receiving adequate prenatal care. The ef fect of family structure is less important for black or white women an d its effect on infant birth weight and mortality for all women is mod est. We argue for richer measures of family structure than are often a vailable in large secondary data sets.