Abstract

In 2017, only 56% of births in Orange County, Florida, received adequate prenatal care - care that has been shown to prevent maternal and infant death. The Florida Department of Health uses the Kotelchuck Index to determine care adequacy. This index rates care adequacy based on when the mother first receives care, and how many recommended appointments she attends. Prenatal care is rated "inadequate" if it starts after the fourth month of pregnancy, and/or if less than half of the recommended appointments are attended. Receiving earlier and consistent prenatal care has been shown to be an effective way to improve birth outcomes. In Florida, counties that have low adequate prenatal care rates like Orange County's tend to be less populous and rural. However, Orange County stands out with its large population of 1.3 million and more urban environment; other Florida counties similar in population and environment to Orange tend to have rates like that of the state's, at approximately 70%. The objective of this study is to determine which factors contribute most significantly to prenatal care inadequacy in Orange, Duval, Hillsborough, Miami-Dade, and Pinellas counties; determine the differences between the most significant factors in Orange County and those in the other four counties; and to determine if residing in Orange County in of itself a risk factor for inadequate prenatal care, using logistic regression. By identifying factors that may lead to low adequacy rates, interventions intended to increase care adequacy in Orange County can be better targeted towards populations in need.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2019

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Donley, Amy

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Sciences

Department

Sociology

Degree Program

Applied Sociology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0007447

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0007447

Language

English

Release Date

May 2019

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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