HW 41 - Independent Research: Prenatal Care

1.  1.Mayo clinic staff. "Prenatal vitamins: Give your baby the best start." 2010. Web. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/prenatal-vitamins/PR00160/METHOD=print>.

The Mayo Clinical staff at the Mayo clinic supply information on what prenatal care is, this specific site discusses vitamins that women can take to help her and her baby. The authors also give information on the effects of the vitamins and how they help the women and her baby. For example the ingestion of iron helps develop blood and muscle cells, it also helps prevent anemia. The rest of the article describes where vitamins can be purchased if prescriptions are needed and how long they should be taken.

2.      2.  Schmitt, John. "Prenatal Care." 2009. Web. <http://www.womenshealth.gov/faq/prenatal-care.cfm>.

John Schmitt answers frequently asked questions about prenatal care some of the questions and answers are very general such as, why prenatal care is important and specific questions to what is important to be exposed to or kept away from in a pregnant women’s environment.

3.       Planned Parenthood. "Prenatal Care." 2011. Web. <http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/pregnancy/prenatal-care-4255.htm>.

Planned Parenthood also shared info that ranged from being very general to being very specific. It seemed as if they were trying to convey the information in a very calming “everything’s going to be okay” manor. This expressed to me that their audience is looking to be comforted and supported by information not necessarily to be informed.

4.       NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH OFFICE OF MEDICAID MANAGEMEN. "PRENATAL CARE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM: MEDICAID POLICY GUIDELINES MANUAL." 1. 2007. Web. <http://www.emedny.org/ProviderManuals/Prenatal/PDFS/Prenatal-Policy_Section.pdf>.

This state provided file, gives women and families access to health insurance information regarding prenatal care. It outlines and describes in depth the prenatal care assistance program. This includes information on eligibility and the largest section is about billing. But there are no personal health suggestions or comforting. It is very cut and dry. This is certainly the paperwork aspect of prenatal care and giving birth.

5.       NYS Department of Health. "Early Prenatal Care - Percent of Live Births*." 2010. Web. <http://www.health.state.ny.us/statistics/chac/birth/pnce.htm>.

These are statistics concerning the birth rate of babies whose mothers received prenatal care early in pregnancy. They are organized by New York state region and contain data collected from 2006 to 2008.

These sources help give me a deeper understanding of the information that is easily accessible to the public. For my culminating project I plan on sitting in on a prenatal visit so by doing this research I was able to be more enlightened about prenatal care and the importance of it. These sites have also given me the vantage point to ask deeper questions to the midwife as well as the patient about prenatal care. I would also like to do a comparison of statistics about how the live birth rate of early prenatal care compared to the birth rate of late prenatal care. Another area of interest is how and why the live birth rate and prenatal care rate differs between regions of the state and if those differences are economically caused.