Prenatal care still unpopular in CNMI

Despite the importance of prenatal care in ensuring that babies are born healthy, the practice remains unpopular among many pregnant women in the Northern Marianas due to lack of proper education and high medical cost according to Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez.

He said the percentage of pregnant women who come to the Commonwealth Health Center and at various private clinics for prenatal care is still low. He did not provide exact figures though.

“There are barriers that pregnant women face in this community that prevent them from coming in to seek prenatal care early and regularly. One is lack of information about the benefits of early prenatal care and medical problems that could be prevented when one receives such care,” Villagomez said.

“Another barrier is cost. I am very much aware that prenatal care is not cheap and this might keep women from coming in to get the proper care. This is likely to increase during times of economic downturn,” he added.

Not all expecting mothers know that if they undergo prenatal care on a regular basis, their babies are likely to be born healthier, he said.

“It this important, therefore, that we get the word out into the community for women who suspect that they might be pregnant to come in and receive prenatal care as soon as possible because the first three months of pregnancy are extremely critical time in the young fetus’ life,” said the health secretary.

“Prenatal care is much more than taking vitamins and seeing your doctor. It includes information on exercise, diet and other things that you should do to ensure a healthy baby and a comfortable pregnancy,” he added.

Villagomez and other health officials are currently persuading lawmakers to introduce programs that will make underprivileged women eligible to get free or subsidized prenatal care treatment.

Over 100 women get pregnant every year in the NMI. Some are teenage mothers, who for lack of basic information on how to take care of themselves during their pregnancy, deliver unhealthy babies.

The medical cost in treating these babies, however, is passed on to the local government.

“It is important to highlight that if we do not, as a community, address this problem of lack of proper prenatal care, we will face them when these babies are born with medical problems associated with poor prenatal care. These costs are usually much higher than the overall cost of proper prenatal care,” Villagomez said.