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Program Management of High-Risk Pregnancy

Outcomes and Costs

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Disease Management & Health Outcomes

Abstract

In spite of technological advances in healthcare, poor maternal and infant birth outcomes remain at unacceptably high levels in Western countries. Therefore, governmental and healthcare institutions, particularly in North America, have implemented various models of expanded prenatal-care programs focused on improving birth outcomes of high-risk pregnant women. This article presents an overview of recent studies that evaluated the quality and cost (if available) of programs (case management, home care, nurse specialist care, or augmented prenatal care) for the management of high-risk pregnancy. The findings suggest that enhanced prenatal programs (particularly with expert nurses) improve birth outcomes while controlling costs. These enhanced programs provide early and continuing psychosocial assessment, psychosocial interventions to mediate the effects of the risk factors, and health promotion education.

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Acknowledgements

The authors have no sources of funding or conflicts of interest to declare that are directly relevant to the content of this review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Nursing, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Marlene C. Mackey PhD, RN, FAAN (Associate Professor) &  Judith W. Alexander PhD, RN, CNNA (Associate Professor)

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  1. Marlene C. Mackey PhD, RN, FAAN
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  2. Judith W. Alexander PhD, RN, CNNA
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Correspondence to Marlene C. Mackey PhD, RN, FAAN.

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Mackey, M.C., Alexander, J.W. Program Management of High-Risk Pregnancy. Dis-Manage-Health-Outcomes 11, 1–6 (2003). https://doi.org/10.2165/00115677-200311010-00001

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