Access barriers and the use of prenatal care by low-income, inner-city women

An important public health agenda in the United States is improving access to prenatal care, particularly for low-income women. The study discussed in this article was designed to determine which social, environmental, and ps ychological barriers are most likely to interfere with the early and regula r use of prenatal health services. Low-income adult women hospitalized on t he postpartum unit of a large urban medical center were interviewed about t he barriers they experienced gaining access to prenatal cave. Access barrie rs involving family and friends significantly increased the odds of receivi ng inadequate care, particularly not wanting anyone to know about the pregn ancy and not having help getting to clinic appointments. Other important ba rriers included those related to the health cave system and intrapersonal i ssues. Social workers are in an ideal position to help women eliminate barr iers to access to prenatal care through clinical expertise in assessment, a dvocacy, outreach, and case management.