Prenatal Care among Immigrants and Racial-Ethnic Minorities in a New Immigrant Destination: Exploring the Impact of Legal Status

Kim Korinek, University of Utah

We draw upon the Utah Population Database, a unique, comprehensive linked system of vital and administrative records, to analyze prenatal care utilization within a recent cohort of births to mothers in the state of Utah, a pre-emerging immigrant gateway. Our analyses focus on the racial-ethnic, nativity and legal status of infants’ mothers as factors influencing utilization of prenatal care. Among foreign-born mothers we draw upon state administrative records, specifically Driver’s privilege cards made available to undocumented, to approximate mothers’ legal status. Our results indicate the importance of disaggregating the expansive categories of Hispanics and the foreign born to better understand health outcomes and healthcare utilization among immigrants. In particular, we find that immigrant mothers’ legal status is one of several important factors influencing prenatal care utilization. Results are discussed in light of public policies, like those extending driver privileges to unauthorized immigrants, which aim to integrate migrants, including the undocumented, into destination communities.