HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — An effort in Howard County to make sure vital prenatal care is available and affordable for all pregnant women.
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball says his proposed budget for the coming year, includes 1.3 dollars to close health disparity gaps for mothers.
"In our most recent Howard County Community Health Needs assessment, the data showed that almost 12 percent of our Hispanic mothers and 8 percent of our Black mothers in Howard County received late prenatal care or no prenatal care at all. In the case of our Hispanic mothers, that's more than four times the percentage of our white mothers," said Ball.
He says babies of mothers who do not get prenatal care are three times more likely to have low birth weight.
And five times more likely to die than those born to mothers who do get care.
