Show reduce What Is Prenatal Care? care should Prenatalbefore you second menstrual period and consist of 10 to 14 medical visits during your pregnancy Care also includes at least one visit for yourself six weeks after the birth of your baby Most healthcare providers charge a set fee which includes all your prenatal visits and your birth and aftercare Delaying care won’t save money and may cost more in complications for you and your baby You will be charged the same fee regardless of whether you start receiving care early or late in you pregnancy One or two visits can cost the same amount as 14 visits This fee can be covered by your medical insurance plan If you are uninsured this guide will provide you with some other ways to get the early prenatal care you and your baby need Your baby should be seen by a doctor very soon after birth and at regular intervals until at least one year of age your chances of having a low baby The importance of the problem of bw birthweigbt was recognized by the Surgeon General of the United States in 1980 when he called for the reduction of the birthuxdght Why Is Prenatal Care Important7 etking health care within the first three months of your pregnancy and receiving continuous care on a regular basis until you deliver your baby is the most important step you can take toward enhancing your unborn child’s health (Ideally you should be taking good care of your health aid seek health care before becoming pregnant) When you receive prenatal care from either a doctor or a certified you'll be screened lor medical conditions dial might affect your pregnancy Care will include routine procedures such as urine and blood teas recording of your weight and Hood pressure bw birthweight rate as one of the major health objectives for the nation There are two categories of bw birthweight births which occur before the 38th week of pregnancy (the length of a is pregnancy forty weeks) and babies who are but are underweight Utah Statistics and Why We Should Care must all be concerned about the tragic and costly fact that we bse about one baby each day (under one of age) in Utah In 1985 Utah’s infant We mortality rate increased from 91 to 98 deaths pet 1 000 live births In 1973 Utah’s infant mortality rate was the lowest in the nation Between 1974 and 1984 the Utah infant mortality In rate decreased 25 while the national rate decreased 36 1982 and 1984 Utah’s infant mortality rate increased In the ten year period between 1973 and 1983 the percentage of low birthweight infants bom in Utah did not decline Apjrroximately 2 100 low birthweight infants are bom to families in Utah each year There is ah inherent risk of having a baby-fall births have a less than positive outcome fetal heart tones and uterine growth measurement Your health care provider will also ark you our percent of L about your family health'history inform you about nutritional needs risks to avoid and important choices you'll need to make Low What Can Happen Without Prenatal Care? ne good sign that your baby will be healthy is Ids or her weight at birth Low birtbweight (a baby weighing less than five and a half pounds at birth) is the major factor associated with the death of infants in the first birthweight babies have medical problems than of normal weight A bw birthweight baby may have trouble breathing or experience other problems such as anemia and bw body temperature Bleeding in the brain is one of the most severe yet most common results of very bw birthweight Special equipment and highly trained staffs in intensive care nurseries care for bw birthweight babies who otherw'ise year of life In fact low birthweigbt infants are two and a half times mere likely to die before reaching miglit not survive The emotional cost of delivering a less than healthy baby is devastating The newborn intensive care units in one year of age Studies show that adequate prenatal care can greadj Utah have an average coat of about $ 500 to $ 1700 baby per day Considering that the average length of stay is 20 days one very ill infant can cost $24000 to $250000 or more Compare that to the average cost of a normal of a healthy child $2500 to $3000 delivery The importance our community places on assuring propier prenatal care for all women is justified because it decreases the likelihood of die very expensive bw birthweight babies being bom The Government Accounting Office in a report by die Committee on Children Youth and Families (1985) states that for every one dollar investment in prenatal care $338 can be saved in die cost of care for low birthweight infants |