Prenatal care and socioeconomic status: Effect on cesarean delivery

Cesarean deliveries are widely used in many high- and middle-income countries. This overuse both increases costs and lowers quality of care and is thus a major concern in the healthcare industry. The study first examines the impact of prenatal care utilization on cesarean delivery rates. It then det...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health economics review 2018-03, Vol.8 (7), p.1-21, Article 7
Main Authors: Milcent, Carine, Zbiri, Saad
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cesarean delivery
Cesarean section
Health Care Management
Health Economics
Health education
Health risk assessment
Health Services Research
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes
Pregnancy care
Prenatal care
Prenatal education
Public Finance
Public Health
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomic position
Womens health
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Summary:Cesarean deliveries are widely used in many high- and middle-income countries. This overuse both increases costs and lowers quality of care and is thus a major concern in the healthcare industry. The study first examines the impact of prenatal care utilization on cesarean delivery rates. It then determines whether socioeconomic status affects the use of prenatal care and thereby influences the cesarean delivery decision. Using exclusive French delivery data over the 2008-2014 period, with multilevel logit models, and controlling for relevant patient and hospital characteristics, we show that women who do not participate in prenatal education have an increased probability of a cesarean delivery compared to those who do. The study further indicates that attendance at prenatal education varies according to socioeconomic status. Low socioeconomic women are more likely to have cesarean deliveries and less likely to participate in prenatal education. This result emphasizes the importance of focusing on pregnancy health education, particularly for low-income women, as a potential way to limit unnecessary cesarean deliveries. Future studies would ideally investigate the effect of interventions promoting such as care participation on cesarean delivery rates.
ISSN:2191-1991
2191-1991
DOI:10.1186/s13561-018-0190-x