Study finds black moms face obstacles to care

Black women face more barriers to starting prenatal care, stated a study released Tuesday by the state Health Department.

The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, which polls hundreds of new Oklahoma mothers each year, found one in five black women face barriers, including transportation problems, not being able to get an appointment when wanted and not being able to begin prenatal care as early as wanted.

These issues have the potential to increase infant mortality in Oklahoma. Public health officials say early and routine prenatal care is important because of the early screening, diagnosis and treatment of potential risks like high blood pressure and diabetes that can affect healthy births.

"Oklahoma ranks at the bottom of most health surveys,” said Jill Nobles-Botkin, women’s health service director for the department. "Our infant mortality rate is well above the national average.”

Nobles-Botkin said it’s unclear why black women have trouble getting early prenatal care, but some may be delayed if they don’t have health insurance or medical providers like obstetricians.

Infants born to black women are twice as likely to have low birth weight when compared with those born to white women in the U.S., according to the health department. And they are nearly four times more likely to die from low birth weight complications than infants born to white women.

The Oklahoma black mothers were found to be less likely to have taken a multivitamin before pregnancy, and they were more likely to have an unintended pregnancy when compared with white women.

Also, use of cigarettes during pregnancy increased among black women from 1996 to 2006, although the rate is less than among white women. Smoking is a risk factor for low birth weight.