Prenatal Health Education Needs of Medically Indigent and Under‐Insured Pregnant Women

Abstract

Education is an important and integral part of prenatal health and plays an important part in reducing prenatal health disparities among vulnerable populations. In an effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and their infants, nurses need to design relevant prenatal health education programs when caring for medically‐indigent and under‐insured pregnant women. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the prenatal educational needs of medially‐indigent and under‐insured pregnant women to design appropriate health promotion programs. Women were asked to respond to questions related to their diet, exercise, use of medications, number of pregnancies, their reproductive health, and use of tobacco and alcohol. The information gained from this pilot study provides the framework necessary to develop relevant educational programs and to increase awareness of healthy lifestyle behaviors and thereby change unhealthy prenatal behaviors for this population of vulnerable women. The design of the study was a descriptive, cross‐sectional survey. All pregnant women receiving prenatal care at the JayDoc Free Health Clinic were invited to complete a Prenatal Health Survey designed by the March of Dimes. The women were given the option of completing the survey in English or Spanish. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the study results. A total of 15 pregnant women ranging in age from 17 years to 34 years (mean age 26 years) completed the survey. The majority of the women (n=12) completed the questionnaire in Spanish. The most significant results of the study were: (1) 87%of the women (n =13) reported they did not receive routine dental care and (2) 40% of the women (n = 6) reported they did not regularly exercise. The results of this study have implications for nurses caring for medically‐indigent and under‐insured pregnant women. When caring for this population of vulnerable women, it is important to assess their need of dental care. If it is determined the women are in need of such care, nurses need to be able to provide appropriate education about the importance of dental health and dental care resources.