An Evaluation of an Adolescent Prenatal Education Program    

Deborah L Covington, DrPH;  
Mary D. Peoples-Shep, DrPH;  
Paul A. Buescher, PhD; 
Trude A. Bennett, DrPH;  
Melanie V. Paul, MD, MPH 

Objective: To evaluate a prenatal education and support program for adolescents. Methods: Quasi-experimental, comparison group design in which historical controls (n=191), geographically close controls (n=312), and resource-similar controls (n=227) were compared with program participants (n=184). Results: Program participants were less likely to have inadequate prenatal care utilization than were historical controls (odds ratio=0.39, 95% confidence interval=0.2, 0.7). There were no consistent effects with regard to maternal weight gain. Program participants were significantly less likely to have low-birth-weight births than were historical controls (odds ratio=0.48, 95% confidence interval=0.2, 0.9). Conclusion: Effects of the program might be strengthened by focusing on improving maternal nutrition.

AmJHealthBehav 1998;22(5):323- 333