Increasing Prenatal Care Compliance in At-Risk Black Women: Findings from a RCT of Patient Navigation and Behavioral Incentives.

Background: In the USA, infant mortality remains a major public health concern, particularly for Black women and their infants who continue to experience disproportionately high mortality rates. Prenatal care is a key determinant of infant health, with inadequate prenatal care increasing risk for prematurity, stillbirth, neonatal loss, and infant death. The aim of the present study was to determine if concurrent delivery of patient navigation and behavioral incentives to at-risk Black pregnant women could improve prenatal care attendance and associated maternal and infant outcomes.

The Impact of Prior Poor Birth Outcomes on Smoking Behavior on Subsequent Pregnancies: Analysis of the National PRAMS Data.

Objectives: The link between cigarette smoking and poor birth outcomes has been well established. However, there is paucity of research investigating the effect of previous history of poor birth outcomes on smoking behavior during subsequent pregnancies. The present study seeks to determine whether a previous preterm or low birth weight delivery impacts maternal smoking during the subsequent pregnancy.

Least explored factors associated with prenatal smoking.

Poor pregnancy and birth outcomes are major problems in the United States, and maternal smoking during pregnancy has been identified as one of the most preventable risk factors associated with these outcomes. This study examines less explored risk factors of smoking among underserved African American pregnant women. A cross-sectional survey was conducted at an outpatient obstetrics-gynecology clinic of an inner-city university hospital in Virginia from March 2009 through January 2011 in which pregnant women (N = 902) were interviewed at their first prenatal care visit.

Addressing Perinatal Disparities in Urban Setting: Using Community Based Participatory Research.

Striking racial disparities in infant mortality exist in the United States, with rates of infant death among African Americans (AA) nearly twice the national average. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches have been successful in fostering collaborative relationships between communities and researchers focused on developing effective and sustainable interventions and programs targeting needs of the community. The current paper details use of the Perinatal Period of Risk (PPOR) model as a method to engage communities by identifying factors influencing racial disparities in infant mortality and examining changes in those factors over a ten year period.