Prevalence of Access to Prenatal Care in the First Trimester of Pregnancy Among Black Women Compared to Other Races/Ethnicities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Pedro Henrique Alcântara da Silva; Kezauyn Miranda Aiquoc; Aryelly Dayane da Silva Nunes; Wilton Rodrigues Medeiros; Talita Araujo de Souza; Javier Jerez-Roig; Isabelle Ribeiro Barbosa

doi:10.3389/phrs.2022.1604400

Prevalence of Access to Prenatal Care in the First Trimester of Pregnancy Among Black Women Compared to Other Races/Ethnicities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Public Health Rev. 2022 Jul 4:43:1604400. doi: 10.3389/phrs.2022.1604400. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Pedro Henrique Alcântara da Silva¹, Kezauyn Miranda Aiquoc¹, Aryelly Dayane da Silva Nunes¹, Wilton Rodrigues Medeiros¹, Talita Araujo de Souza¹, Javier Jerez-Roig², Isabelle Ribeiro Barbosa¹

Affiliations

¹ Postgraduate Program in Public Health, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.
² Faculty of Health Sciences and Welfare, University of Vic-Central University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain.

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the prevalence of access to prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy among black women compared to other races/ethnicities through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: Searches were carried out at PUBMED, LILACS, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, and in the grey literature. The quality of the studies and the risk of bias were analyzed using the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies instrument. The extracted data were tabulatesd and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively through meta-analysis. Results: Black women had the lowest prevalence of access to prenatal services in the first trimester, with prevalence ranging from 8.1% to 74.81%, while among white women it varied from 44.9 to 94.0%; 60.7% of black women started prenatal care in the first trimester, while 72.9% of white women did so. Conclusion: Black women compared to other racial groups had lower prevalence of access to prenatal care, with less chance of access in the first trimester, and it can be inferred that the issue of race/skin color is an important determinant in obtaining obstetric care. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42020159968_, PROSPERO CRD42020159968.

Keywords: access to health services; black women; prenatal care; racial factors; systematic review.

Publication types

Systematic Review