Factors affecting access to prenatal care for U.S./Mexico border-dwelling Hispanic women

A study of attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors about prenatal care was conducted among Hispanic women who resided on the U.S.-Mexico border. As part of a larger study that included chart reviews of 752 mothers and postpartum interviews of 587 of these women, the 118 women who elected to deliver in the university-affiliated teaching hospital, rather than any of four participating private hospitals, were reviewed separately. This study sought to determine whether the prenatal care behaviors and obstetric outcomes experienced by this subset of women would contribute to any particular adverse impact on the teaching hospital, such as the need for additional intervention services. The most common barriers to prenatal care identified among women in the entire study were the same factors identified among women in the university hospital, including lack of financial means to pay for care, lack of information concerning where to obtain care, inadequate infrastructure of clinic services, sadness, and depression. Maternal and infant outcomes were generally favorable, even for women who did not receive any measure of prenatal care.