Prenatal care in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Adequacy of prenatal care is assessed in this retrospective analysis of the births occurring in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) from 1986 - 1996. Overall, adequacy of prenatal care has not changed significantly, despite a large increase in population and births. Adequacy was measured by assessing trimester of prenatal care onset as well as total number of visits. 'Adequate' prenatal care, defined as onset of care in 1st or 2nd trimester and at least 7 prenatal clinic visits, was received by less than half of the mothers delivering in the CNMI. Early (1 trimester) prenatal care was received by less than 2 of all mothers. Most indicators of 'adequate' prenatal care are significantly worse in the CNMI than in the U.S. or Guam.