Preterm Birth and Low Birth Weight by Source of Payment for the Delivery: New Data from the Birth Certificate

Sally C. Curtin, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC
Marie Thoma, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC
Sayeedha Uddin, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC
Joyce Martin, National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), CDC

Introduction: Healthcare coverage of pregnant women is associated with birth outcomes. Mothers whose pregnancies are insured by Medicaid are more likely to have a preterm and/or low birth weight infants compared with privately-insured mothers. Comparing birth outcomes for uninsured woman with Medicaid or privately-insured women is more complex as these women are disproportionately Hispanic and immigrant. Methods: Using the new payment data from the birth certificate, percentages of births that are preterm and low birth weight will be compared among payment groups (private insurance, Medicaid, self-pay (uninsured)). Birth outcomes by payment source will also be examined in multivariate models which control for maternal sociodemographic and clinical risk factors. These models will also be stratified by prenatal care receipt (trimester in which care was initiated). Conclusions: These new birth certificate data will be an important, unique resource in examining outcomes by source of payment because of the large number of births.