Impact of a social support program on teenage prenatal care use and pregnancy outcomes
Rogers, M.M.; Peoples-Sheps, M.D.; Suchindran, C.
Journal of Adolescent Health Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine 19(2): 132-140
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 1054-139X PMID: 8863085 DOI: 10.1016/1054-139x(95)00227-jDocument Number: 300132
The Resource Mothers for Pregnant Teens Program (RMP) was launched as a pilot program in 1980 in three South Carolina counties. It has since expanded to operate in 13 rural and three moderately urban counties in the state. The program uses paraprofessional women to provide social support to pregnant teenagers through home visiting. The resource mothers actively recruit primiparous teenagers to the program through community education and outreach activities. The authors evaluated the impact of the RMP on the use of prenatal care, low birth weight (LBW), and preterm birth (PTB). Findings are based upon the multiple logistic regression of data obtained by linking RMP, health department, and birth certificate data. Outcomes for primiparous teenagers are compared between a RMP group of 1901 and a comparison group of 4613 from counties in which the program was not offered. RMP teenagers were more likely to initiate prenatal care early and to receive adequate prenatal care than teenagers in the other counties. The program had no significant effect upon LBW, but unmarried teenagers in the RMP group were less likely to have a PTB than unmarried teenagers in the other counties. These findings were supported by analyses using a second comparison group.