Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Pregnant Women

Angelica Manrique

Noelio Hernandez

Greter Montana

Armando Rodriguez

Leidys Davila

Karelis Torres

Miami Regional University

08-09-2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Pregnant Women

It is an urgent issue of importance in many nations to lessen the health disparities between socioeconomically underprivileged pregnant women and their infants and broaden their access to inexpensive and high-quality reproductive care. Access to maternity services is often hindered by a person’s socioeconomic standing, which constitutes one of the most commonly cited hurdles. Women’s capacity to locate maternity services that are easily available, dependable, and of an appropriate quality might be hindered by poverty and other associated difficulties. Furthermore, research has identified poverty as the single most crucial factor in predicating insufficient maternity care (Surkan et al., 2018).

Communicable Diseases Affecting This Group

Pregnant women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds may be more likely to contract diseases including HIV infection and malaria. It is estimated by WHO that 1.4 million pregnant women are living with HIV in underdeveloped countries (World Health Organization, 2016). Ninety percent of these women reside in Africa, where most women live in impoverished conditions due to their socioeconomic status. An HIV infection during pregnancy can lead to several adverse health effects, including an early delivery, a lower birth weight for the baby, miscarriages, or even the death of the newborn. AIDS transmission from parent to child happens during birth in 65% of cases, even though HIV is rarely passed on while a baby is still in the womb (World Health Organization, 2016). The degree of the illness appears to increase with mature pregnancy, which calls for improved care, which these women are unable to receive.

Barriers To Healthcare And Access To Care

The cost of traveling to maternity care facilities is a typical obstacle for socioeconomically unstable women. It can be challenging for pregnant women who don’t have access to an efficient and cost-effective mode of transportation to initiate and keep up with prenatal care appointments regularly. This is also an issue for low-income women in certain countries who are expected to cover their prenatal care out of their pockets (Riggs et al., 2019). Two additional financial obstacles are associated with child care and the opportunity cost of getting off from work to visit prenatal care centers. Women and their infants both face a greater risk of having their health negatively affected when they are prevented from receiving the necessary maternity care due to financial constraints. A substantial correlation has been found between socioeconomic deprivation in the community and unfavorable neonatal outcomes, such as premature birth and low birth mass in newborns (Dankwa-Mullan, 2021).

Similarly, mothers with lower levels of education, have lower earnings for their households, or reside in suburbs with an economically disadvantaged stance tend to have children with adverse health conditions. When contrasted to their peers who have more opportunities and advantages, women who are socially stigmatized and deprived frequently have a stillbirth threat that is higher by a factor of two or more (Surkan et al., 2018). Inequalities in health care for pregnant women and the children they give birth to are also influenced by ethnic identity. These discrepancies are especially pronounced for newborns born to parents who were members of an ethnic minority. Babies born to women who were members of an ethnic minority are more inclined to pass away before age one. They also have higher percentages of stillbirth and premature birth and substantially lower premature births. Assessments of infant and neonatal effects by maternal migrant standing in the United Kingdom demonstrates persistent patterns of unfairness over time for babies born to mothers who were born in a foreign country in comparison to babies born to mothers who were born in the United Kingdom (Riggs et al., 2019).

Relation To Community/Public Health Nursing

Public health nurses have significant involvement with women who are marginalized in society through a variety of different channels. The nurses offer in-home consultations that lessen the expenses incurred for transportation, babysitting, and other considerations that are recognized as obstacles to prenatal care (Dankwa-Mullan, 2021). Implementing these practices in a manner that is both efficient and effective can be a significant factor in boosting outcomes. Community nurses must be trained in “the skills required in efficient home visitation, particularly relationship-building and constructive utilization of self and assets to enhance family wellbeing and prenatal care to accomplish this goal. Community health nurses can significantly impact prenatal wellbeing, engagement, and childrearing, as well as a reduction in preterm labor, low newborn weight, and reduced infant death, if they can assist disadvantaged pregnant women in their households in a flexible manner.

Evidence-based Practices That Improve Their Health Outcomes

Community-based health insurance (CBHI) is a tried and true method for assisting disadvantaged pregnant women. It is a method of health coverage structured at the local level according to the concepts of risk sharing and the submission of a slight premium on a routine basis. It strives to avoid devastating health expenditures, especially among neglected and impoverished pregnant women. For instance, in the Thiès district of Senegal, forty CBHI programs were operational (Riggs et al., 2019). It was demonstrated that CBHI increases the need for maternal care and the proportion of births attended by qualified birth attendants. Additionally, Female or ‘woman’ health professionals organize community-based group meetings to advocate maternity care, the utilization of clean delivery materials, professional delivery, infant care, safety sign recognition, and health-seeking conduct. In Pakistan, for instance, lady caregivers from the Hala and Matiari subdistricts are recruited for fifteen months to recognize all pregnant women in their region and offer them essential maternity services and prenatal care counseling (Riggs et al., 2019).

Resources That Will Improve Their Health Outcomes

Policy and financing decisions must utilize digital resources to highlight initiatives that increase socioeconomically deprived mothers’ and newborns’ access to a diverse range of evidence-based healthcare. Officials in public health may utilize social media sites such as Facebook to incorporate these equitable initiatives into the established care sector and inform primary care physicians about them. Obstetricians and midwives may accomplish this more effectively by expanding and diversifying their medical training through authenticated medical websites (Dankwa-Mullan, 2021). Health practitioners may consult electronic publications during their schooling and post-qualification to be sufficiently prepared to handle the increasing sophistication of their patients’ necessities. Delivering exceptional care for all pregnant women, irrespective of their socioeconomic status or racial origin will also necessitate a shift from integrated care to a more interdisciplinary inclusive care approach that includes a team-based framework with cooperation and interaction at its core.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Dankwa-Mullan, I., Perez-Stable, E. J., Gardner, K. L., Zhang, X., & Rosario, A. M. (Eds.). (2021). The Science of Health Disparities Research. John Wiley & Sons.

Riggs, E., Kilpatrick, N., Slack‐Smith, L., Chadwick, B., Yelland, J., Muthu, M. S., & Gomersall, J. C. (2019). Interventions with pregnant women, new mothers and other primary caregivers for preventing early childhood caries. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (11).

Surkan, P. J., Strobino, D. M., Mehra, S., Shamim, A. A., Rashid, M., Wu, L. S. F., … & Christian, P. (2018). Unintended pregnancy is a risk factor for depressive symptoms among socio-economically disadvantaged women in rural Bangladesh. BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 18(1), 1-13.

World Health Organization. (2016). WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy experience. World Health Organization.