Costa Mesa : New Association Stresses Need for Perinatal Care

Although Orange County has one of the best records in California for the care of pregnant women, a need for perinatal care still exists, officials of the new Orange County Perinatal Council said Wednesday.

At an invitational conference at the Westin South Coast Plaza, about 200 people were told the goals of the council, organized to coordinate perinatal care in Orange County, provide referrals for pregnant women and to introduce legislation affecting perinatal care.

Health care during the perinatal period--which begins about 20 weeks into pregnancy and ends about four weeks after birth--is an important method of reducing mortality rates, said Dr. Louis Gluck, professor of pediatrics and obstetrics/gynecology at UC Irvine.

“Part of the council’s work is to see that there is an easy access for perinatal care and to make sure there are people to communicate with (the patients) in their mother language. Orange County has the greatest population of Asians in the state,” said Dorothy Sutherland, council project director.

Judith R. Yates, assistant to the director at UCI Medical Center, said there were 34,856 deliveries in Orange County in 1984, 1,000 more than 1983, with the greatest population growth in south Orange County, according to figures compiled by the county Health Care Agency, the Orange County Health Planning Council and the California Department of Health Services.

Perinatal deaths in 1983 numbered 415, compared to 380 deaths in 1980. But, Yates cautioned, statistics can be deceiving. “Out of 34,000 births, 415 deaths is a pretty good record.”