Lack of Prenatal Care in San Diego Is Spotlighted in KPBS-TV Special

Three hundred pregnant women arrive each month at hospital emergency rooms in San Diego County to give birth without ever having seen a doctor during their pregnancy, according to a KPBS-TV-produced documentary airing tonight ) at 8 p.m. on Channel 15.

“Victims at Birth” concentrates on three areas affecting San Diego’s rising infant mortality rate: denial of prenatal care to expectant mothers, a rise in drug and alcohol use among pregnant women and a surge in the number of teen-agers who give birth. For those viewers unfamiliar with the problems, the pictures and statistics can be more than a little shocking.

There are scenes in the emergency rooms of local hospitals, where doctors must confront the uncertainty of delivering babies for mothers that have not received proper prenatal care. Mothers lament the inadequacies of financial-aid programs. Doctors complain about the problems of getting paid by low-income mothers.

“I never expected that I’d be denied medical treatment because of financial considerations,” an incredulous mother explains.

Show producer Matthew Eisen uses gripping footage of newborn babies to highlight and illustrate, not sensationalize. The statistics, the cold-hard facts, adequately make the necessary points. More than 3,000 teen-age girls in San Diego County become mothers each year, for example.

After the hourlong special, KGTV (Channel 10) reporter Marti Emerald will be the host of a live follow-up discussion on the issues and possible solutions, beginning at 9 p.m. The panel will include Kim Warma, supervisor of the Regional Perinatal System, and Maria Leech, program manager for South Bay Drug Abuse Services, in addition to doctors, government officials, legal representatives and social workers.

The show will include a live phone-in segment so that viewers can ask panelists questions.