Login | Home Delayed Prenatal Care The Delayed Prenatal Care Work Group was formed to: Identify barriers for women seeking prenatal care in Westerly Develop strategies to remove barriers these women face and to encourage early enrollment into prenatal care Prenatal care should begin in the first trimester of pregnancy. The importance of early prenatal care to healthy babies and mothers is well documented. Statistics show that the percentage of women who do not receive adequate prenatal care has been increasing in Westerly over the past 10 years. Rates of expecting women in Westerly not receiving adequate prenatal care are comparable with the rates reported in the state's core urban communities (i.e. Providence, Central Falls, Newport, Pawtucket, and Woonsocket). In fact, at 15.2%, Westerly ranks as the second highest community in the state for rate of delayed prenatal care, behind Woonsocket at 15.7%. The work group has reviewed hospital data collection processes and clarified the data to better define this problem. They have found that reporting mechanisms for documenting the start date of prenatal care have been difficult to validate due to the variations in data collection methods. One major barrier identified by the work group is the lack of a free pregnancy testing site in the area. Westerly prenatal care providers have implemented office changes, including offering pregnancy testing in their offices, in an effort to address this barrier. A public education campaign promoting early prenatal care was identified as another possible means to address this issue. For further information contact: Kathleen Rubinstein,VNS Home Health Services 788-2082 or krubinstein@vnshomehealth.org