Increasing knowledge of family planning may increase prenatal care usage by women with unplanned pregnancies. The authors examined the determinants of inadequate prenatal care use in a sample of 409 women delivering at an 800-bed hospital with a referral population of 400,000 people in southern Spain. Data were obtained by personal interview and from clinical records. Results suggest that unplanned pregnancy is one of the main predictors for inadequate use of prenatal care. It also may imply that increasing knowledge of family planning might improve use of prenatal care.
Further research is needed to examine barriers to effective prenatal care.
Violent and Abusive Behavior Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Abused Women in a Primary Care Setting. C. Silva, et al. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between symptoms of PTSD and everity of abuse among women who had experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse or both. An ethnically stratified group of 131 abused women in a primary care setting was interviewed. Offering community resources and safety information during each health visit is essential for the abused woman to develop a sense of control and to make decisions for her own safety.