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The effects of prenatal care upon the health of the newborn

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  • Gortmaker, S.L.

Abstract

Data upon all births and infant deaths in New York City in 1968 are analyzed using methods for the analysis of multidimensional contingency tables. These methods provide estimates of the effect of variations in prenatal care upon the relative risks of low birth weight and neonatal and postneonatal mortality, controlling for a wide variety of factors which tend to 'select' women into a program of prenatal care. Significant relationships between lack of prenatal care and infant mortality are estimated, but these occur mainly via the relationship of inadequate prenatal care to low birth weight. Furthermore, among white mothers who delivered on a private service, those receiving inadequate levels of prenatal care experienced only slightly increased risks of a low birth weight infant. In contrast, white mothers who delivered on a general service, and all black mothers, experienced substantially increased risks when receiving inadequate prenatal care. A variety of behavioral characteristics of mothers were not controlled in these analyses, and thus clear causal inferences concerning the efficacy of prenatal care cannot be drawn. These analyses do, however, identify a significant population of women at substantial risk.

Suggested Citation

  • Gortmaker, S.L., 1979. "The effects of prenatal care upon the health of the newborn," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 69(7), pages 653-660.
    • Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1979:69:7:653-660_0
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    Cited by:

    1. Burdette, Amy M. & Weeks, Janet & Hill, Terrence D. & Eberstein, Isaac W., 2012. "Maternal religious attendance and low birth weight," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(12), pages 1961-1967.
    2. Katherine Baicker & Sendhil Mullainathan & Joshua Schwartzstein, 2015. "Behavioral Hazard in Health Insurance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1623-1667.
    3. Liu, Tsai-Ching & Chen, Bradley & Chan, Yun-Shan & Chen, Chin-Shyan, 2015. "Does prenatal care benefit maternal health? A study of post-partum maternal care use," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(10), pages 1382-1389.
    4. Pushkar Maitra & Sarmistha Pal, 2004. "Early Childbirth, Health Inputs and Child Mortality: Recent Evidence from Bangladesh," HEW 0411004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Makate, Marshall, 2016. "Maternal health-seeking behavior and child’s birth order: Evidence from Malawi, Uganda, and Zimbabwe," MPRA Paper 72722, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 14 Jul 2016.
    6. Theodore Joyce, 1994. "Self-Selection, Prenatal Care, and Birthweight among Blacks, Whites, and Hispanics in New York City," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 29(3), pages 762-794.
    7. repec:aer:wpaper:340 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Jeffrey E. Harris, 1982. "Prenatal Medical Care and Infant Mortality," NBER Chapters, in: Economic Aspects of Health, pages 13-52, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Pfutze, Tobias, 2014. "The Effects of Mexico’s Seguro Popular Health Insurance on Infant Mortality: An Estimation with Selection on the Outcome Variable," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 475-486.
    10. Donald E. Pierson & Martha B. Bronson & Elizabeth Dromey & Janet P. Swartz & Terrence Tivnan & Deborah K. Walker, 1983. "The Impact of Early Education," Evaluation Review, , vol. 7(2), pages 191-216, April.
    11. Abhishek Dureja & Digvijay S. Negi, 2024. "Birth Order Effects in Maternal Health-Seeking Behavior: Evidence from India," Working Papers 118, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    12. Maitra, Pushkar, 2004. "Parental bargaining, health inputs and child mortality in India," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 259-291, March.

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