Immigrant Enclaves and Inadequate Prenatal Care among Mexican-origin Mothers

Abstract

Objectives: This study is an investigation of the relationships between residing in different types of ethnic enclave neighborhoods and inadequate use of prenatal care among Mexican-origin mothers.

Methods: A unique dataset was created using National Center for Health Statistics 2008 restricted-use detailed natality files, the 2005-2009 American Community Survey, and the Department of Health and Human Services Area Resource file. Hierarchical modeling was used.

Results: Mexican-origin mothers' residential contexts are associated with the inadequacy of their prenatal care utilization beyond their individual characteristics. Specifically, residing in Mexican immigrant enclaves is associated with increased odds of having inadequate use of prenatal care. In contrast, residing in other types of ethnic enclaves (Mexican/Hispanic ethnic enclaves) and non-Hispanic white neighborhoods is associated with decreased odds of having inadequate utilization of prenatal care even after the inclusion of contextual-level controls for individual characteristics, neighborhood socioeconomic status, and the availability of healthcare infrastructure resources.

Conclusions: Residing in immigrant enclaves is important for understanding the inadequacy of prenatal care utilization for Mexican-origin mothers. These findings have policy implications for designing place-based programs to target certain residential contexts where women are at greater risk of having inadequate use of prenatal care.