The cost of caring for five low birth weight infants in intensive care facilities would pay for the prenatal care of 149 women. Prenatal care would make it far more likely that children born would not only survive their first year of life, but would be far less likely to suffer illness and other handicapping conditions. Because of high malpractice insurance costs, many doctors are no longer doing obstetrics, making prenatal care inaccessible for many in rural areas. We found that 21 counties no longer offer prenatal care in their county health departments. In many other counties, pregnant women had to wait for a medically inadvisable length of time before beginning prenatal care.
Some counties offer publicly provided prenatal care but without adequate facilities or staff.
We found that many women do not understand the importance of prenatal care. We need families and physicians to emphasize to pregnant women the urgency of early and good prenatal care. We believe that North Carolina can do a better job to prevent the premature births of our babies. It is going to take commitment, though, by our people and our government to make a difference. The task force has made recommendations about services, education, and finance.