A Healthy Start

Good news for Ventura County’s youngest residents: Mothers-to-be in this county receive the highest rate of early prenatal care in California, according to a report released last week by the state Department of Health Services.

Countywide, 89% of expectant mothers received prenatal care in the first trimester of pregnancy. That compares with less than 86% in Orange County, 85% in Los Angeles County and 83% statewide. Mendocino County reported the lowest, with about 59% of women getting early prenatal care.

This achievement is due in large part to the network of public and private clinics that reaches out to poor and hard-to-reach women and encourages them to get early help.

In many cases a lack of transportation, education or baby-sitters makes it difficult for these women to obtain the sort of care that women in wealthier circumstances take for granted. The neighborhood clinics help bridge that gap.

Prenatal care is an important indicator of the overall health of a community. When doctors have the opportunity to examine women early in their pregnancies, both the mothers and children are likely to be healthier for years to come.

The county’s clinic program, started in 1993, now numbers 25 locations and logs about 300,000 patient visits a year. In 1994 the private, nonprofit Community Memorial Hospital also began treating Medi-Cal patients.

Among other findings in the Department of Health Services’ annual report, about 10% of Ventura County’s children were living in poverty, compared with 18% statewide and 22% in Los Angeles County.

Health may be easier to achieve than wealth for Ventura County’s newborns. To those who work hard to ensure them a healthy start in life, we offer appreciation and congratulations.