Reevaluating the Relationship Between Prenatal Employment and Birth Outcomes: A Policy-Relevant Application of Propensity Score Matching

• Published in: Women's health issues 2013-03, Vol.23 (2), p.e77-e85
• Main Authors: Kozhimannil, Katy B., PhD, MPA, Attanasio, Laura B., BA, McGovern, Patricia M., PhD, MPH, Gjerdingen, Dwenda K., MD, MS, Johnson, Pamela Jo, PhD, MPH
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accounting; Adolescent; Antenatal; Associations; Births; Black women; Childbirth; Employees; Employment; Employment - statistics & numerical data; Employment status; Female; Gestational Age; Health Policy; Health Surveys; Hospitals; Humans; Infant, Low Birth Weight; Infant, Newborn; Logistic Models; Low birth weight; Mothers; Multivariate Analysis; Obstetrics and Gynecology; Odds Ratio; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Outcome - epidemiology; Prenatal Care; Prevalence; Propensity Score; Risk Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys; United States - epidemiology; Whites; Women; Women, Working; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1049-3867; 1878-4321
• DOI: 10.1016/j.whi.2012.11.004

Abstract Background Prior research shows an association between prenatal employment characteristics and adverse birth outcomes, but suffers methodological challenges in disentangling women's employment choices from birth outcomes, and little U.S.-based prior research compares outcomes for employed women with those not employed. This study assessed the effect of prenatal employment status on birth outcomes. Methods With data from the Listening to Mothers II survey, conducted among a nationally representative sample of women who delivered a singleton baby in a U.S. hospital in 2005 ( n = 1,573), we used propensity score matching to reduce potential selection bias. Primary outcomes were low birth weight (