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.

Stephen Colbert Volunteers to Work in the Fields

Arturo Rodriguez, president of United Farm Workers, invites Americans who think immigrant farm workers are taking away jobs to work in the fields.  Here's the clip from the Colbert Report:  

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Arturo Rodriguez
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

 

Can't wait to hear more from Stephen Colbert about his day working in the fields.

Update on Friday, July 9, 2010 at 8:00AM by Chris Liu-Beers

Here's an excerpt from a Wall Street Journal article about farm labor and the UFW's "Take Our Jobs" Campaign:

In a summer campaign, the United Farm Workers of America is challenging unemployed Americans to harvest the grape, peach and lettuce crops.

Expectations are low. The union's campaign, called "Take Our Jobs," is intended to highlight the role of illegal workers in feeding Americans and to goad Congress to overhaul U.S. immigration policy.

"I can't imagine we'll find that many Americans want to work in the fields," said Arturo Rodriguez, president of the California-based union.

Immigration has reemerged as a prominent national issue since Arizona passed a controversial law to crack down on illegal immigrants that is set to take effect July 29. This week, the Obama administration filed a lawsuit to block it, heightening the political stakes on immigration for both parties ahead of November elections.

About 1.8 million people work on U.S. farms. About three-quarters of them are foreign-born and more than half are illegal immigrants, according to the Department of Labor. The union says the proportion of undocumented workers in the fields is even higher.

But kicking them out, the union argues, would lead to crops rotting in the fields, higher food prices and a greater reliance on imports.

"If we asked all the undocumented immigrants to leave the country, the agriculture industry would die," Mr. Rodriguez said.