Maternal Sociodemographic Characteristics, Experiences and Health Behaviors Associated with Postpartum Care Utilization: Evidence from Maryland PRAMS Dataset, 2012–2013

Abstract

Objectives Postpartum visits are increasingly recognized as a window of opportunity for health care providers to counsel new mothers and promote healthy behaviors, including increasing contraceptive use and screening for postpartum depression. In Maryland, there is a lack of research on postpartum visit (PPV) attendance and the specific risk factors associated with not receiving postpartum care. In this study, we estimated the proportion of mothers in Maryland who attended a PPV and assessed maternal sociodemographic characteristics and health behaviors associated with PPV non-attendance. Methods Data were analyzed from the 2012 and 2013 Maryland Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (n = 2204). Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were performed to examine the association between covariates and PPV non-attendance. Results Overall, 89.6% of women reported PPV attendance. Bivariate analyses between maternal sociodemographic and health behavior characteristics and PPV non-attendance indicated that being unmarried (OR 3.03, 95% CI 2.12–4.31), experiencing infant loss (OR 7.17, 95% CI 2.57–19.97), working during pregnancy (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.31–0.63) and not receiving dental care (OR 2.03, 95% CI 1.43–2.88) as significant risk factors for PPV non-attendance. After controlling for known and theoretical confounders, experiencing an infant loss (aOR 5.18, 95% CI 1.54–17.4), not receiving dental care (aOR 1.54, 95% CI 1.06–2.26) and working during pregnancy (aOR 0.61, 95% CI 0.41–0.93) emerged as strong predictors of PPV non-attendance. Conclusions for Practice Mothers who recently experienced an infant death were at greatest risk for not attending a PPV, suggesting the need to establish comprehensive support networks, including grief counseling and additional service reminders for mothers who experienced an infant death.

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