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Exploring Preconception Care: Insurance Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Health in the Pre-pregnancy Period

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Abstract

Objective To measure the association of preconception health insurance status with preconception health among women in New York City, and examine whether this association is modified by race/ethnicity. Methods Using data from the New York City Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System 2009–2011 (n = 3929), we created a “Preconception Health Score” (PHS) capturing modifiable behaviors, healthcare services utilization, pregnancy intention, and timely entry into prenatal care. We then built multivariable logistic regression models to measure the association of PHS with health insurance status and race/ethnicity. Results We found PHS to be higher among women with private insurance (7.3 ± 0.07) or public insurance (6.3 ± 0.08) before pregnancy than no insurance (5.9 ± 0.09) (p < .001). However, when stratified by race/ethnicity, the positive association of PHS with insurance was absent in the non-white population. Conclusions for Practice Having health insurance during the pre-pregnancy period is associated with greater health among white women, but not among black or Hispanic women in NYC.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS) Einstein-Montefiore CTSA Grant Number TL1TR001072. The authors thank Candace Mulready-Ward and Christina Fiorentini of PRAMS NYC, and the PRAMS working group.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, NYU Langone Medical Center, 550 First Ave, New York, NY, 10016, USA

    Rebecca Mahn Hawks

  2. Department of Epidemiology & Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, USA

    Aileen P. McGinn & Jonathan N. Tobin

  3. Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Women’s Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, USA

    Peter S. Bernstein

  4. Center for Clinical and Translational Science, The Rockefeller University, New York, USA

    Jonathan N. Tobin

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  1. Rebecca Mahn Hawks
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  2. Aileen P. McGinn
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  4. Jonathan N. Tobin
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Correspondence to Rebecca Mahn Hawks.

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Source: Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), a surveillance project for the CDC.

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Hawks, R.M., McGinn, A.P., Bernstein, P.S. et al. Exploring Preconception Care: Insurance Status, Race/Ethnicity, and Health in the Pre-pregnancy Period. Matern Child Health J 22, 1103–1110 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-018-2494-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-018-2494-1

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