Logo image
The impact of the First Steps prenatal care program on birth outcomes among women receiving Medicaid in Washington State
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The impact of the First Steps prenatal care program on birth outcomes among women receiving Medicaid in Washington State

Yuzo Arima, Brandon L. Guthrie, Isaac C. Rhew and Anneclaire J. De Roos
Health policy (Amsterdam), v 92(1), pp 49-54
2009
PMID: 19321220

Abstract

Hispanic Americans Low birth weight Premature birth
To evaluate the effectiveness of “First Steps”, Washington State's expanded Medicaid prenatal and post-partum care program, we conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study using birth and hospital discharge records from Washington State for 1999–2002. Birth outcomes of 19,668 First Steps participants receiving Medicaid were compared to those of 56,728 non-participating mothers receiving Medicaid. Using logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for the association between First Steps participation and low birth weight (<2500 g), preterm birth (<37 weeks gestation), small for gestational age (<10th percentile in birth weight for Washington State infants of same gestational age and sex), and infant mortality (death prior to 12 months). Adjusted for potential confounders of maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, parity, place of residence, foreign birth, and participation in other benefit programs, infants of women participating in First Steps were less likely to be of low birth weight (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.84–1.00). Among Hispanic women, compared to non-participants, participants had a reduced odds of low birth weight (OR = 0.79, 95% CI: 0.67–0.94) and preterm birth (OR = 0.85, 95% CI: 0.74–0.98). These results suggest that participation in First Steps among Medicaid recipients may be particularly effective among Hispanic mothers.

Metrics

8 Record Views
13 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#5 Gender Equality
#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Health Care Sciences & Services
Health Policy & Services
Logo image