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No First Trimester Care
No First Trimester Care is the percent of all births in which the
mother did not begin prenatal care during the first three months of the
pregnancy. It has been shown that early prenatal care is essential to
the health and well-being of newborn infants, particularly in reducing
the rates of infant death, low birth-weight, and other perinatal
conditions.
No First Trimester Care is calculated by dividing the number of births
not receiving first trimester care by the total number of births minus
the number of births with unknown care. In 2001, there were 36,301
births in which month prenatal care began was known. Of those, 7,339
were to mothers who did not begin prenatal care in the first trimester.
The percent No First Trimester Care = (7,339 / 36,301) X 100 = 20.2
percent. Nationally, 16.6 percent of all births in 2001 were to
mothers who did not begin care in their first trimester.
During the period from 1997 to 2001, the average percent receiving No
First Trimester Care ranged from a low of 13.4 percent in Grant County
to a high of 38.5 percent in Phillips County.
The Southeast region had the highest five-year average of No First
Trimester Care at 26.6, while the Central region had the lowest at
17.9.
Although a significant increase in the percentage of Arkansas women not
receiving first trimester prenatal care occurred in 1996, rising from
23.3 percent to 25.2 percent, a steady decline has taken place since.
Calendar year 2001 showed another decrease from 20.2 in 2000 to 20.2
percent in 2001.
Receipt of prenatal care varies substantially by race. The Arkansas
five-year average for No First Trimester Care for White mothers was
18.4 percent. The percentage for Black mothers was higher at 32.3
percent.
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