142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

311573
Geographical Distributions of Risky/Negative Experiences Before and During Pregnancy In Relationship to Low Birthweight in Los Angeles County

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Gergana Kodjebacheva, Ph.D. , Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Michigan - Flint and University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Flint, MI
Background:  Risky and negative experiences among future or expectant mothers are associated with lower birthweight.  Less is known about the geographic distribution of women’s experiences before and during pregnancy in relationship to low birthweight. 

Methods: Experiences before and during pregnancy and low birthweight per census tract in Los Angeles County were overlaid in maps.  Data on women’s experiences per census tract were obtained from the 2010 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby (LAMB) project.  The LAMB project was conducted by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. It asked mothers who recently delivered a baby about their experiences before and during pregnancy.  The percentages of mothers who did not have enough finances for food and who lacked folic acid knowledge before pregnancy per census tract were mapped.   The percentages of women who drank alcohol, used illegal drugs, were exposed to second-hand smoke, perceived their neighborhood as unsafe, and experienced depression during pregnancy per census tract were mapped as well.  Information on the percentage of infants with low birthweight per census tract in 2010 was obtained from the California Department of Public Health.

Results: South-Central Los Angeles City and northwestern Los Angeles County were areas with the highest percentages of infants with low birthweight.  These low birthweight clusters most closely coincided with areas where a higher percentage of mothers who had limited finances for food and who lacked folic acid knowledge before pregnancy resided.  They were also concentrated in areas where a higher percentage of women perceived their neighborhoods as unsafe and experienced depression during pregnancy. 

Conclusions: One of the objectives of the LAMB project was to identify areas where health-promotion interventions were needed the most.  Interventions, especially in South-Central Los Angeles City and northwestern Los Angeles County, to provide folic acid education among future mothers and increase mental health support services among expectant mothers may help improve maternal health and birth outcomes.

Learning Areas:

Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related education
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Explain the importance of mapping risky/negative behaviors among future or expectant mothers and low birthweight in the planning of interventions to promote better pregnancy outcomes Map experiences before and during pregnancy and low birth weight per census tract in Los Angeles County Identify geographical clusters of low birthweight in Los Angeles County Identify geographical clusters of alcohol consumption, illegal drug use, second-hand smoke exposure, and depression among expectant mothers in Los Angeles County Identify geographical clusters of poverty and lack of folic acid knowledge among females before pregnancy in Los Angeles County Compare the geographic distribution of risky/negative experiences before and during pregnancy and low birthweight Identify areas most in need of interventions to promote better pregnancy outcomes in Los Angeles County

Keyword(s): Birth Outcomes, Maternal and Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I received a PhD in public health. I have served as the Principal Investigator of five studies related to children. I have published research findings in peer reviewed journals.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.