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Medicaid-enhanced prenatal care program reduces infant mortality risk
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The Medicaid-sponsored Maternal Infant Health Program helped to decrease the infant mortality risk in diverse disadvantaged populations, according to recent study data.
“Participation in Maternal Infant Health Programs reduced the risk of infant death, with significant reductions both in neonatal and postneonatal infant death,” Cristian I. Meghea, PhD, of the Institute for Health Policy at Michigan State University, and colleagues wrote. “Infants whose mothers enrolled in the program by the second trimester of pregnancy and received at least three additional prenatal contacts had decreased risk of infant death compared with matched nonparticipants.”
In order to compare the effectiveness of Maternal Infant Health Programs (MIHP), researchers studied a cohort of 248,059 Medicaid-insured infants born from January 2009 through December 2012. Infant and mother data were collected from the Michigan Department of Community Health, and infants were propensity matched with non-MIHP infants based on demographics, socioeconomic status and other factors.
Results showed that infants with any participation in MIHP had a decreased likelihood of death in their first year (OR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.63-0.84). Results were consistent among a diverse racial population, with decreased mortality rates in the first year recorded among blacks (OR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.58-0.87) and infants of other races (OR = 0.74; 95% CI, 0.61-0.91).
The researchers also found a reduced likelihood of death in the neonatal period (OR = 0.7; 95% CI, 0.57-0.86).
This decrease is likely the result of reduced risk for adverse birth outcomes going undetected due to consistent professional monitoring, the investigators suggested. Study results demonstrated that an increase of at least three more prenatal MIHP visits corresponded with an even greater decrease in infant mortality (OR = 0.7; 95% CI, 0.58-0.85).
“Increased efforts are needed in the postneonatal period,” Meghea and colleagues wrote. “Programs targeting Medicaid-insured pregnant women that bundle interventions addressing multiple determinants at multiple levels can be an important mechanism to reach underserved women and their infants at greater risk of infant death.” – by David Costill
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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