Ed. Schulman, PRETERM DELIVERY AMONG WOMEN IN THE SOUTH-CAROLINA MEDICAID HIGH-RISKCHANNELING PROJECT, Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, 6(3), 1995, pp. 352-367
Citations number
50
Categorie Soggetti
Social Work","Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath
The purpose of this study was to determine the association of various
demographic characteristics, medical risks, and prenatal interventions
with birth outcomes of women in the South Carolina Medicaid High Risk
Channeling Project. The study population consisted of 5,012 mothers w
ho delivered between January 1989 and June 1991; each was matched with
her infant. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios
for the independent effects of various maternal factors on gestationa
l age. Analyses of preterm delivery indicated that high-risk African A
merican women were 60 percent more likely to deliver a preterm baby th
an high-risk White women. The mean gestational age was 37.3 weeks for
African American newborns and 38.2 weeks for White newborns. Prenatal
nutritional education had a significantly positive association with ge
stational duration. This study confirms that high-risk African America
n women are move likely than high-risk White women to experience a pre
term delivery. Further research is needed regarding the positive assoc
iation between prenatal nutrition education and the prevention of pret
erm deliveries.