Research conducted by HRSA found significant differences in use of prenatal care among Asian American ethnic groups, according to a study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

The study, “Prenatal Care Use Among Selected Asian American Groups,” looked at all single live births among mothers of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese background by analyzing four years of U.S. vital records.  It investigated three patterns of prenatal care – no care, late initiation of care and inadequate use of care after early initiation.   It is the first national-level study of prenatal care use by the four major Asian American ethnic groups.

Study findings indicate that:

·        Korean and Vietnamese Americans had the lowest levels of prenatal care use;

·        young or single motherhood, a woman’s having a significant number of previous births for her age and low level of education were main risk factors for low use of prenatal care;

·        being foreign-born increased the risk of starting prenatal care late for all groups except Vietnamese Americans, for whom this decreased the risk; and  

·        parents of the same ethnic background increased the risk of starting prenatal care late for Korean Americans but decreased the risk for Japanese and Vietnamese Americans.

Researchers Stella Yu and Michael Kogan from HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau note that women’s choices as to whether or when to seek prenatal care are determined by social and cultural factors such as getting care where their language is spoken and their culture is understood.  They suggest that future prenatal care use studies focus on spousal support and how women adjust to cultural differences in the U.S. 

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