The effects of a prematurity prevention program on births to adolescents

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the North Carolina Prematurity Prevention Program in reducing low-birthweight births among adolescents seeking prenatal care at the New Hanover Memorial Hospital obstetric clinic. Modeled on programs developed by Papiernik and Creasy, the program includes three components: staff education, patient identification, and patient education. Thirteen percent of the clinic population is 13-17 years old. The same prematurity prevention protocol is used for both adults and adolescents. Overall, 12% of the 847 women who delivered prior to the program had a low-birthweight infant. Among the 748 women who delivered during the program, the number of low-birthweight infants declined to 9.5%. For mothers 13-17 years old, 14% of the preprogram group had a low-birthweight infant, as did 14% of those in the program. A logistic regression model, controlling for certain risk factors, suggests that the program was not effective in reducing low-birthweight births among these adolescents (OR = 0.9; 95% CI = 0.2, 1.8).