Prenatal Care for Pregnant Adolescents in a Public High School

Abstract

Two groups of pregnant adolescents enrolled in the St. Paul, Minnesota Maternal and Infant Care Project were involved in this study. A retrospective analysis of obstetrical summary sheets of delivered pregnant adolescents was conducted to demonstrate the relationship of the availiability of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program of prenatal care in a regular public school setting to the achievement of early and continuous prenatal care and to the minimizing of obstetrical complications of the pregnant adolescents who were students in the school. A total sample of 36 students who received prenatal care in the school clinic (study group) from 1973 to 1976 was compared with a random sample of 36 adolescent patients (matched for race) who received care at a non-school clinic (comparison group). The data demonstrated that the study group initiated care earlier and had more total prenatal visits than did the comparison group. Also demonstrated were fewer obstetrical complications in the study group than in the comparison group. The comparison group had more low birth weight infants and more complicated deliveries than did the study group. Therefore, the results of this study support the initial objective and may have significance for educators and health personnel.

School-Based Health Centers to Advance Health Equity

“…Seventeen studies in 18 papers 46–49,56,65–69,74,78,85,88,89,91,92,94 assessed SBHC user–only effects by comparing users with non-users within SBHC schools (eight studies 46,68,69,78,88,91,92,94 ) or SBHC users with users of healthcare sources in non-SBHC settings (nine studies in ten papers 47–49,56,65–67,74,85,89 ). Four studies 59,76,78,90 assessed both whole-school and SBHC user–only effects.…”

“…Thirty-two studies in 33 papers 46–48,51–53,55–62,65,68,69,74,75,77,79,81–83,86–88,90–93,95,97 were published after 2000, and only four studies in five papers 49,54,70,72,89 before 1990. Only three studies 51,75,92 evaluated hybrid school-based and school-linked centers, and no studies evaluated exclusively school-linked centers or mobile clinics.…”

“…Results of this review are largely applicable to the urban context, as only ten studies in 11 papers 51,52,58,70,72,75,76,79,90,92,96 were conducted in mixed rural and urban or suburban areas, and none in predominantly rural areas. Applicability to younger grade levels is limited, as most studies (26 studies in 28 papers 46–49,52,54,55,59,62,65,66,68–74,81,82,85,87,89,91,92,94,96,97 ) evaluated high school SBHCs, whereas one study 83 assessed middle school SBHCs, seven studies 57,58,67,77,83,93,95 evaluated pre-Kindergarten or elementary school SBHCs, and the remaining 12 studies 51,56,60,61,75,76,78,79,84,86,88,90 assessed combinations of grade levels.…”

“…The effects of the range of SBHC services were evaluated: 23 studies in 24 papers 49,52–56,59,69–72,74,77–79,82,85,88,89,91–93,96,97 compared SBHCs that provided primary care only (often including reproductive services); nine studies in ten papers 47,48,62,68,73,75,81,87,90,94 assessed SBHCs that also provided mental health care; and 13 studies 46,51,58,60,61,65–67,76,83,84,86,95 provided some combination of primary care and mental, dental, or social services. Most studies (28 studies in 29 papers 47,48,52–56,58,59,62,69,75–79,81–83,85–88,91–94,96,97 ) did not report hours of operation; among those that did, only two SBHCs 49,89 were open for fewer than normal school hours.…”

School-Based Health Centers in an Era of Health Care Reform: Building on History

“…15 This comprehensive, interdisciplinary prenatal care program was the first model of school-based health care in the secondary school setting, and its initial success was seen as a promising model to pursue as a means of primary and repeat teenage pregnancy prevention. 16,17 This generated tremendous national attention and began to prioritize a school-based, clinical services’ approach to prevent teenage pregnancy by providing reproductive health care to teens, especially among those who had never experienced a pregnancy.…”