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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Elizabeth Bleecker, BS, Emphasis Program, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 444 Elmington Ave, Apt 510, Nashville, TN 37205, 615-340-5614, elizabeth.b.bleecker@vanderbilt.edu, Kimberlee Wyche-Etheridge, MD, MPH, Director Family Youth and Infant Health, Metro Nashville Public Health Department, 311 23rd Ave N, Nashville, TN 37211, Cornelia Graves, MD, Director Maternal Fetal Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1161 21st Ave South, MCN B-1100, Nashville, TN 37232-2158, Kelly Bennett, MD, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1161 21st Ave South, B1100 MCN, Nashville, TN 37232-2158, and Patricia Temple, MD, MPH, Division of General Pediatrics, Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, 2200 Children's Way, Doctor's Office Tower 11207, Nashville, TN 37232.

In Nashville, Tennessee, African-American infants are 2.5 times more likely to die than White infants. This disparity has been linked to racial differences in the use of perinatal care. The purpose of this study was to identify the reasons that women at high risk for poor birth outcomes do not fully utilize perinatal services offered at the local Public Health Department. A multiple-choice survey exploring the experiences of women during their recent pregnancy was administered at two Public Health WIC offices to women over 18 with children less than 5 years old. The survey included questions addressing demographics, beliefs, knowledge, actions, sources of stress, and fetal outcomes. Appropriate association tests were used to test for an association between each survey question and race (Wilcoxon Rank-sum, Chi-Square, and Proportional Odds LR). Among numerous significant differences, of the White women, 8% (2/25) reported being unaware of where to get prenatal care and 65% (17/26) reported being “not at all familiar” with available home visiting programs, compared to 0% (0/36) and 16% (6/37) of the African-American women (p = 0.08 and p < 0.001, respectively). 88% (22/25) of the White women agreed that it was their job as a mother to make sure their child was born healthy compared to 100% (35/35) of the African-American women (p = 0.007). These results suggest that racial differences in beliefs and knowledge of perinatal care influence utilization of services, illustrating the need for additional studies and improvement of educational campaigns and services.

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