Prenatal care is very important for both the mother and the unborn baby. While many black women may perceive that care should start after the birth of the baby, their views are misleading. Both preconception and prenatal care are vital because they prevent complications during pregnancy. Prenatal care is also important because it educates women on important steps they can observe to ensure they protect their unborn babies and uphold healthy pregnancy care (Dahlem, Villarruel, & Ronis, 2015). All these significant aspects influenced by prenatal care reduce the risk of pregnancy problems. Black women in the inner city have been identified as one of the groups that are vulnerable to the risks of lacking prenatal care. Therefore, both physical and psychological risks, their needs from the community, and community resources I found to be helpful to them are reviewed. Resources that I would provide if I had enough money and time are also explored. Finally, I provide an analysis of what I have learned from the whole project.
Reasons Why Black Women are at Risk
The benefits of prenatal care have been found to be significant for both women and their unborn babies. This is an implication that the lack of this crucial step during pregnancy may bring about risks. These risks may be in terms of physical or psychological. Physical effects are adverse on both the mother and child. Firstly, the baby may be born with relatively low weights compared to other children whose mother attended prenatal care. Developments of disabilities are also other physical risks that are associated with a lack of prenatal care. Babies may develop cognitive problems and consequently have sensory problems. Lack of prenatal care may also result in blood problems on mothers such as hypertension.
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Black women are also at risk of developing psychological problems for lacking quality prenatal care. This is because, in most instances, women may undergo psychological torture due to reasons that could have been contained by prenatal care. Stress, depression, and anxiety are some of the most evident psychological results for lacking prenatal care. This is because women miss out on important knowledge about pregnancy that could otherwise help them stay fit and continue with normal life. Black women in the inner city are susceptible to these risks due to reasons that have been attributed to the healthcare systems, individuals, and the community they live in.
The Needs of Black Women from the Community
The community is very important in elevating the levels of prenatal care attendance among black women. This is because some of the factors that have led to poor prenatal attendance are rooted in the community. Elements such as discrimination against minority groups and racial abuse are some of the key factors identified to lack of prenatal care (Heaman et al., 2015). Firstly, there is a need to reduce financial obstacle that has been one of the major problems leading to black women lacking prenatal care. The community can pool resources that can, in return, help low income and black women as minorities. There is a need to provide education to black women on the importance of prenatal care. This is because many black women do not acknowledge the need for prenatal care leading to their ignorance. Health providers should also be sensitized on the need to provide quality prenatal care to all races. This will help reduce the rate of discrimination that has been experienced by black women. Lastly, the community can increase the capacity of prenatal care by various means. This comprises of championing for increased health departments, a network of private physicians who care for minorities, and improved community health centers (Urbanoski et al., 2018). This will positively improve the standards of black women and increase the availability of prenatal care.
Community Resources Available
Information from the internet shows that there are several community resources that are available for black women in attempts to utilize prenatal care. One of the most effective resources is the expanded access to quality and patient-centered healthcare. This is because many black women do not access patient-centered healthcare, a factor that has continued to impact on their abilities to get prenatal care. Policymakers should be obliged to ensure that they allocate budget for maternal healthcare designed for black women. This can, therefore, be accessed by pregnant black women within their communities. Expansion and protection of access to trusted community providers is also important. This is because community health care providers play an integral part in promoting prenatal care among black women. This is due to their rich knowledge on pregnancy that they provide to expectant women about birth control, factors to consider during pregnancy, and annual exams and tests. These initiatives can be provided by the government in its annual budgeting on health. Thus, they should focus on improving community providers on health. In my opinion, these resources are helpful since they target local black women. Considering the comprehensive coverage of these resources, I would recommend that they positively work towards ensuring attained quality prenatal care among black women. This further reduces the risks posed by the lack of prenatal care for both women and unborn babies.
Community Resources that I Would Provide
If I had sufficient resources and time, I would provide incentives and health education programs for black women. Considering that lack of prenatal care among black women has been as a result of low income and financial constraints, incentives would be ideal. This would be through the initiation of programs that would enable pregnant black women to enroll in a certain amount of monetary help according to the levels of their income. This is because some of the already available programs such as Medicaid and other health insurances may be too expensive for them. My incentives would, therefore, supplement gaps that have been created by lack of enough income. Secondly, I would initiate health education programs targeting black women. This education would be specifically designed to sensitize black women to adhere to prenatal attendance. This would constitute both the effects of lacking prenatal care and the benefits realized by attending prenatal care. I believe that these resources would be significant since they would incorporate the basic reasons for lack of prenatal care among black women. By providing these resources, I would help many black women access prenatal care.
Conclusion
Summarily, the information obtained from this project has been helpful to my understanding of prenatal care. I have been able to learn the significance of prenatal care for both women and their babies. This has been influenced by identifying the risks that face black women without prenatal care. However, I have learned that there are several needs that this group requires. These needs are within the community, an implication that they can easily be accessed if they are available. Black women stand to benefit if some community-based initiatives are implemented. They include but not limited to; access to patient-centered care and improvement of community health providers. Implementation of these programs will increase the availability of prenatal care to black women. I feel that I can do more to elevate this situation by using the available resources.
References
Dahlem, C. H., Villarruel, A. M., & Ronis, D. L. (2015). African American women and prenatal care: perceptions of patient-provider interaction. Western Journal of Nursing Research , 37 (2), 217–235. doi:10.1177/0193945914533747.
Heaman, I., M., Sword, W., Elliot, L., Moffatt, M., Helewa, E., M., Morris, H., Gregory, P., Tjaden., L., & Cook, C. (2015). Barriers and facilitators related to use of prenatal care by inner-city women: perceptions of health care providers. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 15 (2). Retrieved from https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12884-015-0431-5 .
Urbanoski K., Joordens C., Kolla G., & Milligan K. (2018). Community networks of services for pregnant and parenting women with problematic substance use. PLOS ONE 13 (11): e0206671. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206671 .
