Optimizing Access to Care During Pregnancy in Rural Areas in a Perinatal Health Network

Optimizing Access to Care During Pregnancy in Rural Areas in a Perinatal Health

Pregnant women who live in rural area have fewer prenatal consultations. It has been demonstrated that maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality increase if time travel to a maternity ward is longer than 30 min.

Home visitation in isolated area may improve prenatal follow-up as it gives full access to women to health care professionals as well as biological and ultrasound exams without travelling.

Our aim is to assess the impact of home visitation on prenatal follow-up as compared to prenatal follow-up in maternity ward and in primary care.

Isolated areas will be randomized, for women living in areas included in the intervention group, home visitations will be planned for prenatal follow-up. Ultrasound screening as well as blood exams will be performed during home visitations. For women living in control areas, they will be free to choose prenatal follow-up modalities.

Inclusion Criteria:

• At the first antenatal consultation, confirming the pregnancy.
• Pregnant women who live in an area of geographic vulnerability covered by a perinatal network
• The women must be informed about the study, understand, read, and speak French, and must be able to consent to participate in medical research

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pregnant women who live outside an area of geographic vulnerability covered by a perinatal network
• Women who give birth in a maternity ward outside Auvergne
• Women from another region giving birth in a maternity ward in Auvergne