Social disadvantage during pregnancy: effects on gestational age and birthweight

Objective Whether psychosocial adversity during pregnancy impacts fetal health outcomes at birth remains underexplored. This is a critical issue given significant social disadvantage and psychosocial stress faced by pregnant women worldwide. Study design Measures of social disadvantage and psycholog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of perinatology 2023-04, Vol.43 (4), p.477-483
Main Authors: Luby, Joan L., England, Sarah K., Barch, Deanna M., Warner, Barbara B., Rogers, Cynthia, Smyser, Christopher D., Triplett, Regina, Arora, Jyoti, Smyser, Tara A., Slavich, George M., Zhao, Peinan, Stout, Molly, Herzog, Erik, Miller, J. Philip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
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692/700/1720
Age
Birth Weight
Cervix
Female
Fetuses
Gestational Age
Gynecology
Humans
Infant
Infant, Low Birth Weight
Infant, Newborn
Maternal & child health
Maternal Age
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental depression
Multivariate statistical analysis
Nutrition research
Obstetrics
Pediatric Surgery
Pediatrics
Poverty
Pregnancy
Premature birth
Prenatal Care
Psychological factors
Psychological stress
Reproductive health
Risk factors
Social interactions
Stress
Structural equation modeling
Tobacco
Womens health
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Summary:Objective Whether psychosocial adversity during pregnancy impacts fetal health outcomes at birth remains underexplored. This is a critical issue given significant social disadvantage and psychosocial stress faced by pregnant women worldwide. Study design Measures of social disadvantage and psychological factors, and medical/reproductive and nutritional health status in pregnant women were obtained at each trimester. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), we investigated the relationship of forms of adversity to each other and to infant gestational age, and birthweight. Results Among 399 singletons, Social Disadvantage significantly predicted gestational age ( p  = 0.003), and residual birthweight ( p  = 0.006). There was a 0.4 week decrease in gestational age and a 3% decrease in birthweight for each standard deviation increase in Social Disadvantage. Conclusion Significant negative effects of social adversity on the developing fetus were found. Notably, these effects emerged despite good prenatal care and after accounting for maternal age and medical reproductive risk factors.
ISSN:0743-8346
1476-5543
DOI:10.1038/s41372-023-01643-2