Sample Essay On Prenatal Care Discussion

I agree with the fact that prenatal care is of profound importance to the mother and the child. It is established that mothers who do not attend prenatal care are up to three times more likely to give birth to underweight children with up to five times chances of death (Child Trends Data Bank, n.d.). Mothers do not attend prenatal care for various reasons. Kapur and Escarce (2006, para. 2) noted that the social-economic status of an individual is indicated by among other things the level of education. It is important to note the part education play in making the decision not to attend prenatal services. Insufficient information due to low education influences the choices one makes. The communication level between the mothers and the prenatal care officers is affected by the level of education. With low level of understanding, the mothers would be discouraged to attend the prenatal care service since they feel that the healthcare providers do not understand them.
I also add that, the personal and cultural beliefs may also come into play as all decisions made are subject to inner convictions of individuals. Nurse ought to pay attention to such possibilities to understand the mothers better. Some cultures hold that pregnancy among the teens as shameful thing. Due to this, teenagers do not visit prenatal care as that would expose them to ridicule either on the way or even in the healthcare facilities.
I, therefore, agree with you that it is wrongs for nurses to judge the mothers who do not attend prenatal care. The circumstances that they face may not make them make informed decisions. Moreover, it is immoral for mothers to endanger the lives of the unborn child by not visiting the healthcare facilities for antenatal care. Therefore, nurses ought to seek to establish not only the background information and the reason for not attending the prenatal care services, but also ought to ensure that the child and the mother attend postnatal care as the potential of the child dying high.

References

Child Trends Data Bank. (n.d.). Late or No Prenatal Care. Retrieved from http://www.childtrends.org/?indicators=late-or-no-prenatal-care
Escarce J.J., and Kapur K. (2006). Access to and Quality of Health Care. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19910/