Study finds black moms face obstacles to care
Lack of prenatal treatment can increase infant mortality rate

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.

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PRENATAL CARE

The situation in Oklahoma

Smoking

Black women were

less likely to smoke during pregnancy than white women, although the number of black pregnant smokers is

on the rise.

Alcohol

Black mothers are less likely to drink alcohol during the three months prior to pregnancy compared to white women (41.8 percent vs.

50.6 percent).

Care

Black women were less likely to get prenatal care as early in pregnancy as they desired when compared to white women. The most commonly cited barrier: inability to get an appointment when wanted.

Source: State Health Department

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BY THE NUMBERS: INFANT MORTALITY RATES

13.6

Infant mortality rate for blacks per 1,000 live births. The national infant mortality rate was 6.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, and the rate for white women was 5.7 per 1,000 live births.

15.1

Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births for Oklahoma blacks from 2004-06. The rate was 6.5 per 1,000 live births for white babies, and the overall rate in Oklahoma was 8.0 per 1,000 live births.

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ONLINE RESOURCES

Children First: www.ok.gov/health/Child_and_Family_Health/

Family_Support_and_Prevention_Service/Children_First_Program/index.html

Central Oklahoma Healthy Start: www.okh4b.org

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WHAT’S NEXT

To deal with the prenatal care problems for black women, Oklahoma health officials said more research must be done, and suggest:

→More smoking cessation activities should be targeted to black women.

→Examination of clinic or customer service practices to eliminate any potential barriers to early prenatal care for patients.

→Teen pregnancy prevention programs that are culturally sensitive for black youth.

→Full funding of programs like Children First and Healthy Start, which provide for home visits to help new mothers in Oklahoma get the information they need for healthy pregnancies and learn to develop relationships with health care providers.

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.

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