Het zorggebruik en de determinanten van zorggebruik van de zwangere vrouw bij de verloskundige en huisarts in Nederland

Samenvatting:

Introduction

Utilization of prenatal health care is an important determinant of maternal and foetal health. Timely and adequate prenatal care is effective in reducing the likelihood of adverse pregnancy outcomes. Low use of prenatal health care services can increase health risk and can lead to morbidity or even mortality. High use adds strain to the health care system and burdens the costs of the system.

Aim

This thesis focuses on the utilization of prenatal health care services internationally and in the Netherlands. It examines in particular the characteristics of pregnant women that lead to a certain degree of prenatal health care utilization.

Method

Firstly, we will perform a systematic review to measure the determinants of prenatal health care utilization internationally. Regarding to health care utilization in the Netherlands in General Practice we will retrieve data from the Netherlands Information Network of General Practice (LINH). The LINH holds longitudinal data on consultations, prescriptions and referrals. Finally, to measure determinants of health care utilization in primary midwifery care we will retrieve data from the Deliver study.  Deliver stands for Data EersteLIjns VERloskunde. It holds cross-sectional and longitudinal data and is concerned with the organization and quality of primary midwifery care.

Results

Our results can result to more knowledge about the determinants of prenatal healthcare utilization. It may give professionals and policy makers the ability to plan obstetric care that reduces inequalities in health outcomes.