of prenatal care is clearly an important task, and it remains a major challenge for researchers (Culpepper, 1991). For example, where women first receive prenatal care varies according to race. Data from 1982 and 1983, collected during cycle III of the National Survey of Family Growth, show that 80 percent of white women who began prenatal care during the first trimester visited a personal, private physician (as opposed to a hospital, health department, or clinic), whereas only 48 percent of black women receiving early prenatal care did so (National Center for Health Statistics, 1988). Further work is needed to sort out the implications of these and other organizational differences—both in terms of positive and negative consequences.

Improved Data from the Revised Standard Birth Certificate and the 1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey. The standard birth certificate