Spontaneous Abortion: Risk Factors Among WIC Participants in Cherokee, North Carolina

The purpose of this study was to determine the rate and contributing factors of spontaneous abortion among participants in the Cherokee WIC Program. The data were collected from two sources: WIC Certification Records and personal interviews. The sample (N=500) consisted of both Indian (N=433) and Caucasian (N=67) women who participated in the Cherokee WIC Program from July 1976 to March 1982.

The spontaneous abortion rate for the total population studied is 24.89%, while the national rate of spontaneous abortion reported in the literature ranges from 10% to 20%. The Caucasian participants (N=67) in this study experience a higher rate (40.0%) than the Indian participants (N=433) (22.37%).

A series of common factors among women who had experienced spontaneous abortion were identified by use of Stepwise Logistic Regression and Phi Coefficients. These were substance use/abuse, maternal diet (including caffeine intake, prepregnancy weight, practice of pica), physiological well-being, blood type, age, and the occurrence of vaginal infections.

Information obtained from the personal interviews suggest that a coping mechanism for the women who experience spontaneous abortion occurs. This mechanism can be defined as habituation.

The information gained in this study will be incorporated into the education program for WIC participants and used as a basis for establishing the effectiveness of the education program.