Michaela Black, Verrazzano Class of
2020, Completed major in Nursing
As a nursing major I have many
interests in different aspects of the field. However, I’ve always been
intrigued by the well-being of mothers and their newborns. As a newborn, I had
a twisted ovarian cyst that was removed at birth, along with one of my ovaries.
Cysts are not related to poor prenatal care, but with my interest in newborns I
learned there are many other issues that are related to inadequate prenatal
care that can affect the mother and the unborn baby.
I was also influenced to do research
on this topic during my seven weeks of maternity clinical rotation. There were
multiple new mothers in the postpartum unit who said they did not have any
prenatal care during their pregnancy. All of these patients were Hispanic; one
of them had other children at home, and the remaining were first time mothers.
They all appeared to be in their early to mid-twenties. I found this very
interesting, because I was surprised to see people not seeking prenatal care.
There are so many opportunities for obtaining help in our modern society that
many people do not even know exist. There are many factors that can weigh in on
health care opportunities, and I wanted to explore this with my research.
I learned a lot during this research
with the help of a great and knowledgeable mentor. I am grateful that she
pushed me to do well, and I appreciate the time she spent with me. I now
understand more about prenatal care and how to educate the community to
increase positive maternal and fetal outcomes.
