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The Effects of Incentivizing Early Prenatal Care on Infant Health

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  • Kamila Cygan-Rehm
  • Krzysztof Karbownik

Abstract

We investigate the effects of incentivizing early prenatal care utilization on infant health by exploiting a reform that required expectant mothers to initiate prenatal care during the first ten weeks of gestation to obtain a one-time monetary transfer paid after childbirth. Applying a difference-in-differences design to individual-level data on the population of births and fetal deaths, we identify modest but statistically significant positive effects of the policy on neonatal health. We further provide suggestive evidence that improved maternal health-related knowledge and behaviors during pregnancy are plausible channels through which the reform might have affected fetal health.

Suggested Citation

  • Kamila Cygan-Rehm & Krzysztof Karbownik, 2022. "The Effects of Incentivizing Early Prenatal Care on Infant Health," CESifo Working Paper Series 9627, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9627
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    4. Reader, Mary, 2023. "The infant health effects of starting universal child benefits in pregnancy: Evidence from England and Wales," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    prenatal care; neonatal health; conditional cash transfers; prenatal care timing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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