Maternal health services

The high rate of adolescent pregnancies and births in the United States has had an extensive impact on individual, family, community, and national issues related to health and economics. Teenagers, many of whom are already of lower socioeconomic status, are at risk for preterm birth and low birth weight, as well as incomplete use of available services. This inquiry used a retrospective comparative research design to evaluate the effectiveness of Project Teen in Palm Beach County, Florida. Project Teen is a multidisciplinary program offering a continuum of support services to pregnant adolescents and newly parenting adolescents and their infants until the infants are 2 years old. Through frequent contacts, home visitation, resource referral, counseling, and education the health care professionals collaborate with the clients to facilitate clients' choices which will maximize families' health potential. Home visitation by care coordinators and senior community health nurses was positively related to pregnancy, family health, and family socioeconomic outcomes.

In this thesis I explore the circumstances in which pregnant Guatemalan Mayan women in South Florida communities found themselves. A local non-profit organization, the Guatemalan Maya Center (GMC), offered assistance to pregnant Mayan women to secure biomedical prenatal care, yet many continued to underutilize these services. The decision to utilize this form of care largely depended on whether a woman received care from a traditional midwife in the community. Women receiving care from a midwife generally did not seek biomedical care until late in their pregnancies. Women unable to locate a midwife often incorporated biomedical care once they suspected pregnancy. Due to the difficulties accessing the GMC's services prior to enrollment many of these women did not obtain "timely" care. A better understanding of the ways in which Guatemalan Mayan women incorporated biomedical prenatal care into their lives is the first step towards increasing their participation in these services.