CDC: Fewer women receiving early prenatal care

First trimester prenatal care declined from 2021 to 2024, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report found. The percentage of pregnant mothers starting prenatal care during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy fell from 78.3% in 2021 to 75.5% in 2024. The greatest decline was among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women, followed by Black women, Hispanic women, American Indian and Alaska Native women, Asian women and white women. The study found late or no care rose in 36 states and Washington, D.C., from 2021 to 2024. Babies born to mothers who do not receive prenatal care are three times more likely to be born with low birth weight and five times more likely to die compared with babies born to mothers who receive care. (The Hill article, 2/19/26)