Eye on Farmworker Health: Prenatal Care Disparities

FAN talks a lot about how farmworkers' living and working conditions - conditions beyond their control - have a tremendous impact on quality of life.  Study after study shows that farmworkers are at risk.  The summer edition of Eye on Farmworker Health investigates access to prenatal care, pesticide exposure and more.  Here's a quick summary of findings on access to prenatal care:

Approximately one quarter of migrant farmworkers in the US are female, and a large percentage of these are of childbearing age. Pregnant farmworkers are at increased risk for spontaneous abortion, pre-term labor, and fetal abnormalities as a consequence of exhausting prolonged manual labor, periodic dehydration and exposure to pesticides, as well as substandard living conditions, poor health, and malnutrition. Twenty-five percent of births to migrant farmworkers result in insufficient birth weight, pre-term labor or other undesirable outcomes. Despite this increased risk, the majority of pregnant farmworkers receive inadequate prenatal care.

Poverty, lack of work authorization, geographical isolation, lack of knowledge concerning prenatal care recommendations, poor English skills, long work hours and migratory lifestyle all contribute barriers to prenatal health care access for migrant farmworkers. Over 60% of migrant farmworkers live at or below poverty level. Over 57% lack legal authorization to work in the US, making them ineligible for health benefits. Eighty-five percent of migrants working in the US have no form of health insurance. Only 5% are enrolled in Medicaid, although more than this number would be eligible. Language and literacy barriers as well as frequent migrations contribute to this under-enrollment. The result of these barriers is that 30% of pregnant farmworkers have their first prenatal visit when they have already reached the second trimester and 14% have no prenatal care until the third trimester. Less than half of pregnant farmworkers gain the recommended weight gain during pregnancy.

Comments

[Brian Todd, Raw Food Diet]

This is sad. There is a definite disparity in how these farm workers are treated. They need better access to health care.

[James Morgan - Puritan Financial Advisor]

Less than half of pregnant farmworkers gain the recommended weight gain during pregnancy.