THE EFFECTS OF A PREMATURITY PREVENTION PROGRAM ON BIRTHS TO ADOLESCENTS

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the North Carolina Prematurity Prevention Program in reducing lowbirthweight births among adolescents seeking prenatal care at the New Hanover Memorial Hospital obstetric clinic. Modeled on programs developed by Papiemik and Creasy, the program includes three components: staff education, patient identification, and patient education. Thirteen percent of the clinic population is 13-17 years old. The same prematurity prevention protocol is used for both adults and adolescents. Overall, 12% of the 847 women who delivered prior to the program had a lowbirthweight infant. Among the 748 women who delivered during the program, the number of low-birthweight infants declined to 9.5%. For mothers 13-17 years old, 14% of the preprogram group had a low-birthweight infant, as did 14% of those in the program. A logistic regression model, controlling for certain risk factors, suggests that the program was not effective in reducing lowbirthweight births among these adolescents (OR = 0.9; 95% CI = 0.2, 1.8). © 1990.