Presentations

Abstract

Introduction:

The United States has an infant mortality rate of 5.4:1000, yet Norfolk City has an infant mortality rate 9.6:1000. When broken down by race, black individuals in Norfolk have an infant mortality rate of 15.7:1000. Norfolk City is also above the national average for both low birthweight and very low birthweight newborns. Quality prenatal care has been shown to have a positive impact on both the mother and child. Mothers who receive consistent prenatal care are less likely to die due to pregnancy- related complications and their children are less likely to be born with low birth weight. Many factors can impede access to prenatal care. These factors include insurance status, fear/distrust of medical providers, medical racism, finances, availability of prenatal appointments, lack of social support, lack of transportation, and mental health status. Through this quality improvement survey, we aim to uncover areas where community support, resources, or prenatal care are most needed in the Hampton Roads region. With this information, the Mother and Baby Mermaids (MBM) CEL at EVMS can create a plan to improve the effectiveness of MBM's community outreach events at addressing these needs, with the overall goal of improving maternal and fetal health outcomes in the Hampton Roads Region.

Methods:

Our target population will be any individual over the age of 18 who is able to access the survey. The survey will include questions on demographics, pregnancy status, concerns during current/previous/future pregnancies, and awareness of currently available resources in Hampton Roads. We will be partnering with EVMS Minus9to5, the Virginia Department of Health, and various other shelters and organizations in the Hampton Roads Region to distribute our 29-question quality improvement survey at their locations. The survey is on Redcap and will be accessible via QR code on flyers with a description of the survey. We will then analyze the responses and look for trends.

Results: (Anticipated)

We are aiming to achieve at least 100 survey responses. We think that we will have a variety of responses from both pregnant and non-pregnant people. We plan on presenting results on respondent's concerns during current or previous pregnancies and postpartum periods (i.e. safety, nutrition, breastfeeding, postpartum birth control options, and finances), level of awareness/use of resources, and demographic trends. We anticipate that awareness of resources currently available to prenatal and postpartum women in the Hampton Roads Region is lower than is ideal. We hope to have the last survey administered and analyzed by October 10th, 2023.

Conclusion:

Our desired outcome is to find gaps in access to care and quality of prenatal/postpartum care among low-income women in Hampton Roads. We will work to directly address these gaps through the community outreach arm of MBM.