Adequacy of Prenatal Care

Adequacy of Prenatal Care is a measure of access to adequate prenatal care based on the Modified Kessner Criteria. The National Center for Health Statistics defines adequate care as having one's first prenatal visit with a health professional within the first trimester of pregnancy and additional visits as per the schedule in Table 11.

Adequacy of prenatal care is not adjusted for age or race.

Table 29 displays the 2004 ranks, based on 2002 data (National Center for Health Statistics. Adequacy of Care by State, United States, Hyattsville, Md.). Access to adequate prenatal care ranges from 85 percent or more of pregnant women in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Massachusetts to less than 60 percent in New Mexico. The national average is 76.2 percent, almost identical to the 2003 Edition average of 76.0 percent of pregnant women receiving adequate prenatal care. It is an increase of 7.5 percent since the 1990 Edition. The largest increases in access to adequate prenatal care between the 2003 and 2004 Editions occurred in Wyoming (from 70.1 percent to 73.8 percent), Utah (from 58.4 percent to 60.6 percent) and Vermont (from 83.8 percent to 85.8 percent). South Dakota and Georgia reported decreases of 2.6 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, in the past year.

Since the 1990 Edition, the largest increases in access to adequate prenatal care have occurred in Vermont, Florida, West Virginia and South Carolina (all up 15 percent or more). Utah experienced the largest decrease (from 72.4 percent to 60.6 percent) in access to adequate prenatal care since the 1990 Edition.

The disparities in adequacy of prenatal care within a state are discussed elsewhere in the report.

¹ Source: 2002 data, National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention