Disparities in Self-Reported Prenatal Counseling: Does Immigrant Status Matter?

Area of Science:

• Maternal and Child Health
• Health Disparities Research
• Sociology of Health

Background:

• Immigrant women encounter distinct obstacles in accessing prenatal care and communicating with healthcare providers.
• Limited research has explored differences in the content of prenatal care received by U.S.-born versus immigrant women.
• Understanding these differences is crucial for improving equitable healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine how immigrant status, English proficiency, and race/ethnicity impact the receipt of self-reported prenatal counseling.
• To identify potential disparities in the content of prenatal care based on sociodemographic factors.
• To inform targeted interventions for vulnerable populations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B), a nationally representative sample (N≈8100).
• Employed logistic regression to analyze differences in self-reported prenatal counseling.
• Investigated counseling topics including diet, smoking, drinking, medication use, breastfeeding, infant development, and early labor.

Main Results:

• Neither immigrant status nor self-reported English proficiency was significantly associated with overall prenatal counseling.
• Interview language (non-English) was positively linked to counseling on smoking and fetal development among Asian women.
• Race/ethnicity showed a positive association with counseling, particularly for Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic women.

Conclusions:

• Overall, there is minimal evidence of systematic differences in self-reported prenatal counseling between U.S.-born and immigrant mothers.
• Specific subgroups, such as Asian women interviewed in a non-English language, received more counseling on certain topics.
• Further research is needed to explore disparities in pregnancy-related knowledge within racial and ethnic subgroups.