Womens Prenatal Care Policies - Essay Example

? Women’s Prenatal Care Policies Prenatal care refers to the proper maintenance of a healthy pregnancy before the delivery of a child. In the United States, the government promotes a healthy pregnancy, as it is one of the best ways of promoting a healthy birth. Getting an early and regular prenatal care normally improves the chances of a perfect and healthier pregnancy. This type of care can begin even before the pregnancy with a preconception care visit to the healthcare based providers. In the United States of America, the preconception health care is highly discouraged for it reduces time spent working by the public servants. Preconception prenatal care as well reduces the chances of being consistent at the work place thus promoting soldiering tendency by female workers. Women can help to promote a healthy pregnancy and birth by developing a well-structured reproductive life plan. This is one of the prenatal care policies basis in which the United States evaluation, analysis and revision prenatal care provisional stages revolves around. A suitable prenatal care influences all the women of various diverse social grounds. The availability of this health service, in the U.S., has improved individual’s social benefits as well as the personal health hygiene. This women’s healthy living policy, in the U.S., has faced many social economic problems thus hindering its general adoption in this country. Women can benefit greatly by the utilization of prenatal care services, in the U.S., only if there was a distinctive health care accessibility between these countries different demographics. This research paper describes the prenatal care policies in the United States and the stages involved towards the whole of these emerging and the already existing prenatal care policies in the U.S. The prenatal care in the United States normally represents healthcare services provided to expectant women. This service is a form of preventive care by the government with the goal of solely providing regular checkups. These checkups to the fortunate women allow the obstetricians-gynecologists to treat and prevent them from potential health problems throughout their pregnancy (Aday, 2001). This checkup system as well promotes a healthy lifestyle that benefits both the child and the mother. To the less fortunate expectant mothers their prenatal care provisions revolve around the midwives. This is abit risky for the midwives are less qualified and knowledgeable about the prenatal care. The evaluation policy stage of the prenatal care, in the U.S., allows for a regular checkup by the expectant mothers once every month. This should be in the first two trimesters of their pregnancies. The number of appointments to either the midwives or the obstetricians-gynecologists is allowed, in this policy stage, to increase to once a week depending on the due dates of the prenatal care towards the child’s delivery. Medical examinations to the expectant mothers, in the U.S., have reduced various losses of lives before and after the delivery of infants. Checkups tests normally ensure that both the child and the mother are healthy. If these two individuals’ health conditions are inappropriate, treatments will be provided to deter any further complications as provided in the evaluation stage of the prenatal policy, in the U.S. The prenatal care, in the U.S., generally began as a precautionary decree against the preeclampsia. The evaluation policy that emerged from the prenatal care issue included a program visit in which various medical professional undertaken histories, physical and risk evaluations to the expectant women. Over the last decades, the evaluation stage has greatly shifted its focus to the low baby weights at birth and other related preventive conditions aiming at decreasing the infant mortality rates (Fitzpatrick & Porter, 2004). An increased use of prenatal care was found to be of a disadvantaged nature and was found to decrease the birth weight mortality related to the infant mortality ratio. This is because of evaluated preventable medical ailments at the delivery stage such as the infant injuries and the post-partum depression in the expectant women. The U.S. is undergoing through a tough policy amendments, in relation to women’s prenatal care, due a larger socio-economic disparity that hinders equal adoption of the prenatal care throughout this country. Various tropical levels of the prenatal care accessibility can be observed and analyzed in United States of America in comparison to both the developing and the already developed nations (Halfon& Schuster, 2000). This will enhance a perfect gathering of the best prenatal care policy to be adopted, by the U.S. government, in order to prevent the emergence of various prenatal birth weight related mortality, and general infant mortality increment. Although most of the expectant women can benefit directly from undertaking the advantages of the prenatal care, there exists a diverse degree of healthcare availability between the different regional demographics. This is experienced in relation to the income level, race and by the ethnicity inclination throughout the United States of America. The education level is as well analyzed as an influence to the ease of access and the exploitation of the prenatal care in their first trimester of pregnancy (Ricketts, 2000). This is due to lack of awareness in as far as regular prenatal care is concerned in the maintenance of a healthy mother to child co-existences. The prenatal healthcare system, in the near future, should have a complete over-haul in order to boost a healthy economy and a reduced infant mortality ratio. Prenatal care, alongside personal insolences, is generally influenced by the overall contribution of the government towards ensuring that the healthcare public amenities are affordable and easily accessible, by the whole populace. The suggested steps to improve the prenatal care, in the United States, include the implementation of a well-structured community based health care programs. This will bring closer healthcare services to those who cannot afford the expenses incurred in the prenatal care. The ensuring by the government, in the United States, that the number of citizens insured is increased will in addition boost the prenatal care, in this country. The United States of America government has come up with a low risk pregnancy prenatal care in its revision stage policy formulation. The preconception cancelling and assessment play another major role in the improvement of the prenatal care, in this stage. Screening and monitoring of the expectant mothers is also undertaken, in this stage, to ensure they are of a stable health condition. Education and intervention in relation to the preterm labor is usually carried out to create awareness in relation to the prenatal care. Lastly, the prophylaxis and vaccination activities in this parental care public policy stage provide for a reduced high-risk pregnancy rates with the women older than thirty five years old. The pre-conception counseling in the prenatal care is recommended to include the height and weight calculations of the basal metabolic rates, abdominal and pelvic examination and the domestic violence screening. This will ensure a healthy conception in the future thus reducing the misconception chances in the existing family unions, in the U.S. The following factors, in addition, are pinpointed as the main contributors to the decline of prenatal care, in the revision policy formulation stage. The attitude towards the prenatal care affects the perception in which most women, in the U.S., view the prenatal care. The attitude of these women varies from different social and ethnic backgrounds in relation to the overall view of the prenatal care. Women are generally similarly affected by certain stressful events, social support, mental health and general stress when it comes to the total understanding of the importance of the prenatal care. The positive influences are among some of the prenatal care policies various individuals and family members are on the move to put across as a prenatal care policy. Social networks of friends, neighboring persons and the family play a significant role in manipulating an individual’s use of the prenatal services (Solinger, 2005). The interlink ages, of those underutilizing the prenatal care and acting against its sanctions, tend to be greater and of a higher degree in relation to the number of women who utilize this care efficiently and effectively. The whole population awareness creation process is, therefore, the only perfect process that is underway in order to come up with a better understanding of the prenatal care provision, in the United States of America. In conclusion, the lowly secluded economic areas should be the majorly targeted areas in the provision of the prenatal care. These areas have an increased level of a lowly standardized prenatal care. Low socio-economic areas normally experience a higher neonatal mortality rate due to increased low births birth weights, of the infants, due to the lowly earned incomes of the women in these regions, as opposed to the higher income earners women. Various public policies, in relation to the prenatal care improvement, in addition to the already existing ones in the evaluation, analysis and the revision stages should, therefore, be brought into existence improve the prenatal care in the whole nation. References Aday, L. A. (2001). At Risk in America: The Health and Health Care Needs of Vulnerable Populations in the United States. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Fitzpatrick, J. J., Villarruel, A. M., & Porter, C. P. (2004).Eliminating health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. New York: Springer Pub. Co. Halfon, N., McLearn, K. T., & Schuster, M. A. (2002). Child rearing in America: Challenges facing parents with young children. New York: Cambridge University Press. Ricketts, T. C. (2000). Rural health in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press. Solinger, R. (2005). Pregnancy and power: A short history of reproductive politics in America. New York, NY [u.a.: New York University Press. Read More