Cesarean Section Rates and Mobile Health's Role in Equitable Access to Prenatal Care.
Person-Rennell, Nicole; Rivers, Patrick; Hollister, James; Dinsmore, Alicia; Bratsch, Nicole; Ortiz, Judith; Rundell, Kristen; Lutrick, Karen
Why this matters
Obstetric quality measures are rarely applied to mobile programs, which is what makes this comparison useful. Uninsured prenatal patients at the University of Arizona Mobile Health Program had a first-birth cesarean rate of 25.0 percent, close to the national target of 23.9 percent.
Abstract
Cesarean section (CS) rates have risen globally. This analysis compares NTSV rates of uninsured patients receiving prenatal care from a mobile clinic to the national target. We calculated an NTSV CS rate of 25.0% among University of Arizona Mobile Health Program prenatal patients, an uninsured and medically vulnerable patient group, similar to the national target of 23.9%. These findings suggest that access to free prenatal care through a mobile health delivery model may contribute to favorable obstetric outcomes among uninsured individuals.