Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 1, 1 Ianuali 1991 — Prenatal services study begins [ARTICLE]

Prenatal services study begins

By Ken Ige Assistant Editor Health care for a baby and its mother before birth ean mean the difference between a healthy baby, a sick baby or maybe even no baby at all. Big Island public health nurses have received $2.5 million to provide prenatal care services to Hawaiian, Filipino and Japanese women in the Hilo-Puna district. Higher instances of low birth weight and other medical complications have been found with women in rural, ethnic populations in the U.S. Likely reasons for this problem, according to researchers, are: these women are less aware of available services; or even if they are aware of the services, they are not able to get to areas where services are offered; or finally some simply choose not to take advantage of health services. Alu Like's Native Hawaiian Heahh Consortium in 1985 found that some Hawaiians were so reluctant to seek health care that they waited until the illness became disabling before seeking help. By

that time the illness was mueh more serious. The project will try to remedy the situation by taking the services into the communities, working with the communities and offering more culturally sensitive services to women with respect for their cultures and styles of living. The Hilo-Puna program will be used as a model for other rural, ethnic populations in the United States. June Kunimoto, the project's director and publie health nursing supervisor for Hawai'i, said the project's first year will be spent on research and gathering data. The University of California, San Francisco, received $1 million to handle research and data analysis for the project. Dyanne Alfonso, the project's pnneipal investigator and professor at UC San Francisco, was born in Laupahoehoe and graduated from UH Manoa. The University of Hawai'i at Hilo will be one of four universities participating in the project.