Prenatal Care Use in Nonmetropolitan and Metropolitan America: Racial/Ethnic Differences

Pregnant women in nonmetropolitan communities are believed to use prenatal care services at lower rates than are metropolitan residents due to higher levels of poverty, lower levels of insurance coverage, and declining numbers of local hospitals and physicians. Yet scarce data exist on actual patterns of prenatal care use in nonmetropolitan areas. This study provides national estimates of prenatal care use among African American, White, and Hispanic women who delivered in 1988 in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan areas of the United States. This study finds that nonmetropolitan residents are no more likely than metropolitan residents to go without care, to enter care late, or to make fewer visits. Nonmetropolitan residents are more likely to receive "inadequate" prenatal care as measured by the Kotelchuck Adequacy of Prenatal Care Utilization Index, with Hispanic residents having the highest rates of inadequate care. These findings are consistent with recent state-level reports, and they suggest the need to target prenatal care policies for populations in greatest need.