Rosamar Torres
UCLA School of Nursing, USA
Title: Perceived prenatal care benefits in late adolescent latinas born in the United States
Biography
Biography: Rosamar Torres
Abstract
In an effort to understand latinas’ inadequate use of prenatal care (PNC) services, research has centered on exploring perceived barriers to access/utilization and has focused on latinas overall without accounting for age or birth country. Therefore, little is known about the perceived benefits of PNC utilization in late adolescent latinas. This retrospective study included 54 latinas that were recruited from online blogs, discussion forums, and groups geared towards pregnant teens and/or latinas. Eligibility criteria were: Born in the U.S.; between 18-21 years; ≤12 months postpartum and; uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery. Perceived PNC benefits were measured by the Better Babies Survey (BBS). A majority (95%) of participants perceived timely (1st trimester) and adequate (≥12 visits) PNC as important. However, only 56% of the sample entered PNC in the 1st trimester, and over 90% of the sample obtained inadequate PNC. There were no statistically significant differences in BBS scores between participants with timely or late PNC or with adequate or inadequate PNC. A logistic regression determined that BBS scores predicted timely entry into PNC, χ2(3)=13.38, p=.004. A multinomial regression determined that BBS scores did not predicted adequate, intermediate or inadequate PNC utilization (p=.51). This study reveals that late adolescent latinas have positive opinions of PNC and they believe that it is important for healthy pregnancy/delivery outcomes, and are aware of the appropriate timing and utilization of care. However, this population likely faces multiple access and utilization barriers beyond their control.