The significance of choosing this article was to see if drug abuse during pregnancy directly influenced prenatal care. This study sought to understand how drug use and factors associated with drug use influence women’s prenatal care. The objective was to identify barriers to prenatal care and factors that encouraged the use of prenatal care by pregnant women who use alcohol and/or drugs. Pies and Robert both attend The University of California’s School of Public Health. Roberts also participates in an Alcohol Research group in California.
This exploratory qualitative research was conducted between September and December 2006 in a northern California county. The subject’s approval was gained from the University of California, Berkeley and informed …show more content…
Women reported not attending prenatal care for reasons unconnected to their drug use, included extrinsic barriers such as problems with transportation, health insurance, scheduling appointments, and feeling that providers do not listen or take their concerns seriously. Drug use itself was also a barrier. A few women reported prioritizing opportunities to use drugs over prenatal care.
Some women saw drug use as related to and the cause of some extrinsic barriers. Women talked about how drug use left them with few resources, which then made it difficult to resolve the barriers. Findings suggest that reducing the number of pregnant women who use alcohol and drugs who receive late or limited prenatal care requires more than telling women to stop drug use.
Limitations of this study included the small sample in one county, few participants were using drugs at the time and many were or had been involved with Child Protective Services, each of which may have swayed what was discussed during interviews and focus groups. Third, the evaluation of alcohol and drug use only included questions about the type of substance not the quantity/frequency or questions about drug severity, in return, limiting generalizability. Lastly, the direction of causality between drug use and extrinsic barriers was not possible to
This exploratory qualitative research was conducted between September and December 2006 in a northern California county. The subject’s approval was gained from the University of California, Berkeley and informed …show more content…
Women reported not attending prenatal care for reasons unconnected to their drug use, included extrinsic barriers such as problems with transportation, health insurance, scheduling appointments, and feeling that providers do not listen or take their concerns seriously. Drug use itself was also a barrier. A few women reported prioritizing opportunities to use drugs over prenatal care.
Some women saw drug use as related to and the cause of some extrinsic barriers. Women talked about how drug use left them with few resources, which then made it difficult to resolve the barriers. Findings suggest that reducing the number of pregnant women who use alcohol and drugs who receive late or limited prenatal care requires more than telling women to stop drug use.
Limitations of this study included the small sample in one county, few participants were using drugs at the time and many were or had been involved with Child Protective Services, each of which may have swayed what was discussed during interviews and focus groups. Third, the evaluation of alcohol and drug use only included questions about the type of substance not the quantity/frequency or questions about drug severity, in return, limiting generalizability. Lastly, the direction of causality between drug use and extrinsic barriers was not possible to