Prenatal and infant health care in a medium-sized community.

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Abstract
Selected features of maternal and infant health care in an urban mid-western area were examined, based upon household interviews with a representative 10% sample of all legitimate births over a 10-month period. All interviews were conducted with the infant''s mother. The interview schedule covered aspects of the socioeconomic status of the household, the health behavior of the family, and the infant''s development. Maternal attitudes toward the pregnancy were explored. A slight tendency was found for mothers of higher social class to be more positively oriented toward their pregnancy; a stronger association was found between a positive attitude toward the pregnancy and number of previous children; mothers with fewer children reported they had felt more positive about being pregnant. Prenatal care and hospital delivery were relatively complete in the sample; those mothers who lacked these features of health care were primarily of lower social class. Mothers''s reasons for not having prenatal care were investigated. Preventive checkups and Sabin vaccination for the infant were, though generally widespread in the sample, most deficient in the lower social classes. The interrelationships of these several health care indicators are examined in a consideration of the "inadequate health care constellation." Inadequate health care, though concentrated in the lower-class segment of the sample, is not preponderant within these classes. Clues to more comprehensive health coverage of mothers and infants in these classes can be found by exploration of subgroup and subcultural values concerning health, by exploration of the situational barriers which face mothers who wish to obtain adequate health care, and by more studious attention, on the part of public health personnel, to developing acceptable, convenient ways of organizing health services for the target population groups.

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