A prenatal screening system for use in a community-based setting.

An obstetrical risk and a nutritional risk screening system were developed and implemented in Massachusetts to be used for the identification of high-risk pregnant women. Components of the obstetrical risk score include age, parity, length of interconceptual periods, a pregravid weight-for-height index, and prior history of miscarriages and low birth weight (LBW) infants. The nutritional risk screening system is based on a modified food frequency using four food groups--meat and their alternates, milk, bread and cereal, and fruits and vegetables. Results from this study on 910 WIC and 418 non-WIC pregnant women indicate that women classified as at high obstetrical risk had a significantly higher incidence of LBW infants than women in the low-risk group. However, the nutritional risk score had no predictive value in identifying those women likely to produce LBW infants.