Self‐Esteem, Social Support, and Satisfaction Differences in Women With Adequate and Inadequate Prenatal Care

Abstract

This descriptive, retrospective study examined levels of self-esteem, social support, and satisfaction with prenatal care in 193 low-risk postpartal women who obtained adequate and inadequate care. The participants were drawn from a regional medical center and university teaching hospital in New Mexico. A demographic questionnaire, the Coopersmith self-esteem inventory, the personal resource questionnaire part 2, and the prenatal care satisfaction inventory were used for data collection. Significant differences were found in the level of education, income, insurance, and ethnicity between women who received adequate prenatal care and those who received inadequate care. Women who were likely to seek either adequate or inadequate prenatal care were those whose total family income was $10,000 to $19,999 per year and high school graduates. Statistically significant differences were found in self-esteem, social support, and satisfaction between the two groups of women. Strategies to enhance self-esteem and social support have to be developed to reach women at risk for receiving inadequate prenatal care.

New Mexico women with no prenatal care: Reasons, outcomes, and nursing implications

“…Albers (1994) has suggested that No Prenatal Care 265 these good outcomes may be due to the state's large proportion of Hispanic mothers: Hispanic mothers had a greater gestational weight gain and accounted for a sizeable portion of New Mexican births. It is thought that Hispanic women have better perinatal outcomes because of social support from families, nutritional differences, higher regard for family roles, and lower rates of smoking and other substance use (Albers, 1994;Higgins, Murray, & Williams, 1994;Leatherman, Blackburn, & Davidhizar, 1990).…”

“…Also, women who had prenatal care in other states and who had no record of this care were recorded as no prenatal care; but these women's medical records were excluded. According to Higgins, Murray, and Williams (1994), some prenatal care may be better than no prenatal care.…”

“…Because the information was demographic in nature, reliability and validity did not need to be reported. However, both of these instruments have been used in previous research (Higgins, Murray, & Williams, 1994).…”

Comparison Between Pregnant Southeast Asian Immigrant and Taiwanese Women in Terms of Pregnancy Knowledge, Attitude Toward Pregnancy, Medical Service Experiences and Prenatal Care Behaviors

“…Single or unemployed pregnant women tend to delay prenatal care (Ivanov, 2000). Inadequate prenatal care is related to lower socioeconomic status, lower level of education, unemployment, lack of insurance and multipara (Higgins, Murray, & Williams, 1994;Miguel et al, 1997). However, the provision of insurance for low-income pregnant women can improve their prenatal care behavior (Braveman, Marchi, Egerter, Pearl, & Neuhaus, 2000).…”

“…Healthcare accessibility, problems with transportation, waiting time, negative experiences and perceptions towards healthcare personnel are all cited in the literature as being impeding factors concerning prenatal care (Braveman et al, 2000;Ivanov, 2000;Mikhail, 2000). Consequently, pregnant women who are satisfied with the level and quality of healthcare services received generally receive proper prenatal care (Higgins et al, 1994;Ivanov, 2000).…”