ABSTRACT:This descriptive, retrospective study examined levels of self‐esteem, social support, and satisfaction with prenatal care in 193 low‐risk postpartal women who obtained adequate and inadequate care. The participants were drawn from a regional medical center and university teaching hospital in New Mexico. A demographic questionnaire, the Coopersmith self‐esteem inventory, the personal resource questionnaire part 2, and the prenatal care satisfaction inventory were used for data collection. Significant differences were found in the level of education, income, insurance, and ethnicity between women who received adequate prenatal care and those who received inadequate care. Women who were likely to seek either adequate or inadequate prenatal care were those whose total family income was $10,000 to $19,999 per year and high school graduates. Statistically significant differences were found in self‐esteem, social support, and satisfaction between the two groups of women. Strategies to enhance self‐esteem and social support have to be developed to reach women at risk for receiving inadequate pren