Racial differences in late prenatal care visits.

The purpose of this study was to examine potential racial disparities in the use of prenatal care beyond what could be measured by the Kessner Index. The data were obtained from the 1986 Massachusetts Prenatal Care Survey, a follow-back study of 2587 postpartum women, which had as its primary objective the identification of barriers to adequate use of prenatal care. This investigation examined the number of prenatal visits reported for each month of pregnancy and found that white women reported significantly more visits than black women only in the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy. This racial difference remained after we controlled for gestational age, sociodemographic factors, reported barriers to care, payor status, and access to care. This study suggests that racial differences in use of late prenatal visits need direct attention if the gaps in use of prenatal care and adverse birth outcomes are to be lessened.