National and state trends in use of prenatal care, 1970-83

Using birth certificate data, national trends in prenatal care use are examined for White and Black mothers overall, as well as for 10 separate subgroups defined by marital status, maternal age, and educational attainment. The per cent of Black mothers with early prenatal care increased each year during the 1970s but the average annual percentage point increase for 1976-80 (1.2) was smaller than that for 1970-75 (2.3). Furthermore, the per cent of Black mothers with early care declined from 62.6 in 1980 to 61.4 in 1982 and remained at this lower level in 1983. Similar changes in trends were observed for all of the 10 Black subgroups despite substantial variation among the subgroups in the level of early prenatal care use. Analyses of state trends provide further evidence of a change in trend for Black mothers. For White mothers, average annual increases in the per cent with early care were similar for 1970-75 and 1976-80 (0.8 and 0.6 percentage points). In addition, the per cent with early care has remained stable since 1980.