Overview
The main objective of the analysis is to evaluate and visualize the adequacy of prenatal healthcare utilization across the United States using the Adequacy of Prenatal Care Utilization Index (APNCU). And drawing connections between the quality of prenatal care and maternal health outcomes. A nationwide visualization of the adequacy of prenatal care can be used to develop targeted interventions in areas that may struggle with maternal health promotion.
Data & Tools
The data utilized in this project is from the CDC WONDER data tool that compiles natality information. This tool reports statistics from live births occurring in the United States for a given year. The data used in this study is collected from the beginning of 2023 until February 29, 2024. The data tool allows you to customize the data obtained by various factors. These factors include demographic characteristics, maternal risk indicators, labor or delivery characteristics, infant characteristics, maternal morbidity, etc. The data request is customizable to produce data extracts with measures like number of births, percent of total births, average age of mother, average birth weight, etc. State populations were also incorporated into this study. Population data allows for the ability to account for the size of the total population when comparing different measures by state. This data was obtained for the year of 2023 from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Methodology
Libraries such as pandas, matplotlib, numpy, seaborn, scipy, mpl_toolkits, sklearn, geopandas, bokeh, folium etc. were used in this analysis. The exploratory data analysis begins with visualizations of distributions of births by demographics and location. The APNCU Index is created by combining parameters from the Kessner Index and the Kotelchuck Index to create a APNCU Score column rating from Inadequate to Adequate Plus. This score and additional metrics are visualized across a map of the United States. Additional visualizations are also included to form a better understanding of maternal health across the U. S.
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