Partner Violence, Seat-Belt Use Among Issues Overlooked During Pregnancy Counseling.

2001 MAY 10 -- (NewsRx Network) -- Although most pregnant women receive counseling on a number of health topics, some women with special risks are not getting the advice they need, according to the results of a new study.

"This study suggests the need to individualize counseling for each patient according to her personal behaviors and experiences," says lead study author Ruth Petersen, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina.

To date, few studies have examined how often pregnant women are asked about preventive health topics. Prenatal care is a perfect time to provide preventive health counseling, since most women receive some form of prenatal care, says Petersen.

"Poor pregnancy outcomes can often be linked to a limited number of high risk behaviors such as substance use and poor diet, which can be modified by behavioral changes," notes Petersen.

To determine how often women were counseled on relevant health topics during pregnancy, Petersen and colleagues analyzed data from a U.S. government survey of nearly 25,000 postpartum women. The researchers based their list of relevant topics on recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

A majority of the topics were well covered by health care practitioners: more than 80% of the surveyed women reported counseling on cigarette and alcohol use, nutrition, breastfeeding, preterm labor, family planning after pregnancy, medication use during pregnancy, fetal growth and development, and HIV testing, the researchers found.

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