Percentage of births where mother received adequate pre-natal care
A lifetime of healthy outcomes begins before birth with good prenatal care. Women receiving adequate prenatal care are more likely to deliver a full-term baby at a healthy birth weight, which reduces the risk for developmental delays and long-term health problems. Access to prenatal care depends on many factors including health insurance coverage and accessibility of affordable health care providers, transportation and child care, cultural or language barriers, and availability of education and outreach programs.
Rates of early entry into prenatal care have been declining steadily over the past several years from 71.9% in 2012 to 57.6% in 2019. Conversely, the infant death rate has declined steadily over the same time period. Infant death rates vary greatly by race. African American infants are five times more likely to die before their first birthday than are White infants.
Despite efforts to improve prenatal care delivery and utilization, there has not been a concurrent decline in adverse birth outcomes locally or nationally. Efforts to improve birth outcomes must also address multiple determinants integrating social, behavioral, environmental and biological factors that shape or affect pregnancy.
Number of births where prenatal care was deemed "Adequate" using the Kessner Index divided by all live births.
The Kessner Index assesses the timeliness (month prenatal care began) and the frequency of care (number of prenatal visits) at different times throughout the pregnancy. "Adequate care" means prenatal care began in the first trimester and the minimum number of visits for each gestational age period of the baby's growth at different points during the pregnancy was met or exceeded (Page 81, Mecklenburg County Community Health Assessment 2013, Mecklenburg County Health Department). These data are cumulative for the previous 24 months. Areas with fewer than 5 births are shown as N/A.
Source: Mecklenburg County Health Department
| Resource | Learn More and Take Action |
|---|---|
| Health Statistics and Epidemiology | A comprehensive look at key indicators of public health and how our community is working to promote health for all. |
| Community Health | Find health services in Mecklenburg County related to pregnancy care and much more. |
| Pregnancy Care Management | Program to provide health care during pregnancy for high-risk, Medicaid-eligible women. |
| Kessner Index | Overview of the index used to assess adequacy of prenatal care, and definitions of other birth-related measures. |