scholarly journals Spatial Variation in Very Preterm Birth to Hispanic Women Across the United States: The Role of Intensified Immigration Enforcement

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (Suppl) ◽  
pp. 333-344
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn K. Stanhope ◽  
Shakira F. Suglia ◽  
Carol J.R. Hogue ◽  
Juan S. Leon ◽  
Dawn L. Comeau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Hispanic Women ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Research ◽  
County Level ◽  
Immigration Enforcement ◽  
Very Preterm ◽  
Very Preterm Birth ◽  
The Impact

Introduction: Limited existing research suggests that immigration climate and enforcement practices represent a social determinant of health for immigrants, their families, and communities. However, national research on the impact of specific policies is limited. The goal of this article is to estimate the effect of county-level participation in a 287(g) immigration enforcement agreement on very preterm birth (VPTB, <32 weeks’ gestation) rates between 2005-2016 among US-born and foreign-born Hispanic women across the United States.Methods: We fit spatial Bayesian models to estimate the effect of local participa­tion in a 287(g) program on county VPTB rates, accounting for variation by mater­nal nativity, county ethnic density, and controlling for individual specific Hispanic background and nativity and county-level confounders.Results: While there was no global ef­fect of county participation in a 287(g) program on county VPTB rates, rates were slightly increased in some counties, primarily in the Southeast (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina).Future Directions: Future research should consider the mechanisms through which immigration policies and enforce­ment may impact health of both immi­grants and wider communities.Ethn Dis. 2021;31(Suppl 1):333-344; doi:10.18865/ed.31.S1.333

Fasting during Ramadan Increases Risk of Very Preterm Birth among Arabic-Speaking Women

2019 ◽  
Vol 149 (10) ◽  
pp. 1826-1832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmi M Tith ◽  
Marianne Bilodeau-Bertrand ◽  
Ga Eun Lee ◽  
Jessica Healy-Profitós ◽  
Nathalie Auger
Keyword(s):  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Birth Certificates ◽  
Second Trimester ◽  
Ramadan Fasting ◽  
Maternal Characteristics ◽  
Very Preterm ◽  
Arabic Speakers ◽  
Very Preterm Birth ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Background The impact of fasting on risk of preterm birth during Ramadan is unclear. Objectives We evaluated the association between Ramadan fasting during pregnancy and risk of preterm birth for Arab women in Canada. Methods We analyzed birth certificates from 3,123,508 deliveries in Quebec, Canada, from 1981 to 2017. We identified 78,109 births of Arabic-speaking women and determined if Ramadan occurred during any trimester of pregnancy. We calculated rates of extreme (22–27 wk), very (28–31 wk), and late (32–36 wk) preterm birth and estimated RRs and 95% CIs for the association of Ramadan fasting with risk of preterm birth by pregnancy trimester, using log-binomial regression models adjusted for maternal characteristics. Results Arabic speakers had an overall preterm birth rate of 5.53 per 100 births, but rates varied with timing of Ramadan. Among Arabic speakers, fasting during Ramadan between weeks 15–21 of the second trimester was associated with 1.33 times the risk of very preterm birth relative to no fasting (95% CI: 1.06, 1.68). Between weeks 22 and 27 of the second trimester, fasting during Ramadan was associated with 1.53 times the risk of very preterm birth (95% CI: 1.21, 1.93). Ramadan fasting was not associated with extreme or late preterm birth regardless of the trimester of pregnancy. Conclusions In this study of 78,109 births to Arabic-speaking women in Quebec, Ramadan fasting during the second pregnancy trimester was associated with the risk of very preterm birth. Optimal prenatal education about nutritional needs in the second trimester of pregnancy is recommended.

scholarly journals Advocating for Structural Change? Exploring the Advocacy Activities of Immigrant-Serving Organizations in an Unwelcoming Policy Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 682-703 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Roth ◽  
Seo Yeon Park ◽  
Breanne Grace
Keyword(s):  
South Carolina ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Policy Advocacy ◽  
Social Service Organizations ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Impact

The growth of the immigrant population in the United States has prompted a recent increase in the number of restrictive immigration policies at the state and local levels. The literature on policy advocacy and social service organizations suggests that these local providers can engage in political activities that challenge the restrictive nature of these contexts. This qualitative study explored how immigrant-serving social service organizations engage in policy advocacy in a state with restrictive, anti-immigrant policies. In-depth interviews with directors of 50 service providers in South Carolina clearly indicate a tension between the need for policy advocacy and the risks associated with engaging in such activities. Fifty percent (50%) of the providers in our sample reported engaging in some form of policy advocacy. However, their policy advocacy activities were often indirect, non-confrontational, and episodic. Most were engaged in coalitions and other forms of indirect advocacy tactics. We discuss implications for the social work profession and recommendations for future research, including the need to further explore the impact of policy advocacy efforts on changing the policy landscape in places that are unwelcoming to immigrants.

Restrictive sub-federal immigration policy climates and very preterm birth risk among US-born and foreign-born Hispanic mothers in the United States, 2005–2016

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 ◽  
pp. 102209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaitlyn K. Stanhope ◽  
Carol R. Hogue ◽  
Shakira F. Suglia ◽  
Juan S. Leon ◽  
Michael R. Kramer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Very Preterm ◽  
Very Preterm Birth ◽  
Hispanic Mothers

scholarly journals Critical window variable selection: estimating the impact of air pollution on very preterm birth

Biostatistics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 790-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua L Warren ◽  
Wenjing Kong ◽  
Thomas J Luben ◽  
Howard H Chang
Keyword(s):  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Variable Selection ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Control Analysis ◽  
Critical Window ◽  
Very Preterm ◽  
Very Preterm Birth ◽  
Windows Of Susceptibility ◽  
Risk Parameters ◽  
The Impact

Summary Understanding the impact that environmental exposure during different stages of pregnancy has on the risk of adverse birth outcomes is vital for protection of the fetus and for the development of mechanistic explanations of exposure–disease relationships. As a result, statistical models to estimate critical windows of susceptibility have been developed for several different reproductive outcomes and pollutants. However, these current methods fail to adequately address the primary objective of this line of research; how to statistically identify a critical window of susceptibility. In this article, we introduce critical window variable selection (CWVS), a hierarchical Bayesian framework that directly addresses this question while simultaneously providing improved estimation of the risk parameters. Through simulation, we show that CWVS outperforms existing competing techniques in the setting of highly temporally correlated exposures in terms of (i) correctly identifying critical windows and (ii) accurately estimating risk parameters. We apply all competing methods to a case/control analysis of pregnant women in North Carolina, 2005–2008, with respect to the development of very preterm birth and exposure to ambient ozone and particulate matter $&lt;$ 2.5 $\mu$m in aerodynamic diameter, and identify/estimate the critical windows of susceptibility. The newly developed method is implemented in the R package CWVS.

scholarly journals Volumetric grey matter alterations in adolescents and adults born very preterm suggest accelerated brain maturation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vyacheslav R. Karolis ◽  
Sean Froudist-Walsh ◽  
Jasmin Kroll ◽  
Philip J. Brittain ◽  
Chieh-En Jane Tseng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Grey Matter ◽  
Brain Maturation ◽  
Grey Matter Volume ◽  
Compensatory Mechanisms ◽  
Very Preterm ◽  
Very Preterm Birth ◽  
Brain Ageing ◽  
Adolescents And Adults ◽  
The Impact

AbstractPrevious research investigating structural neurodevelopmental alterations in individuals who were born very preterm demonstrated a complex pattern of grey matter changes that defy straightforward summary. Here we addressed this problem by characterising volumetric brain alterations in individuals who were born very preterm from adolescence to adulthood at three hierarchically related levels - global, modular and regional. We demarcated structural components that were either particularly resilient or vulnerable to the impact of very preterm birth. We showed that individuals who were born very preterm had smaller global grey matter volume compared to controls, with subcortical and medial temporal regions being particularly affected. Conversely, frontal and lateral parieto-temporal cortices were relatively resilient to the effects of very preterm birth, possibly indicating compensatory mechanisms. Exploratory analyses supported this hypothesis by showing a stronger association of lateral parieto-temporal volume with IQ in the very preterm group compared to controls. We then related these alterations to brain maturation processes. Very preterm individuals exhibited a higher maturation index compared to controls, indicating accelerated brain ageing and this was specifically associated with younger gestational age. We discuss how the findings of accelerated maturation might be reconciled with evidence of delayed maturation at earlier stages of development.

scholarly journals The impact of changes in preterm birth among twins on stillbirth and infant mortality in the United States

2014 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 823-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Getahun ◽  
K Demissie ◽  
S W Marcella ◽  
G G Rhoads
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Infant Mortality ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals MATERNAL DEPRESSION FOLLOWING VERY PRETERM BIRTH † 1584

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 ◽  
pp. 266-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Hagan ◽  
Sherryl Pope ◽  
Sharon Evans ◽  
Sue Priest ◽  
Rosie Rooney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Maternal Depression ◽  
Very Preterm ◽  
Very Preterm Birth

scholarly journals Understanding social development following very preterm birth

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 890-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Preterm Birth ◽  
Social Development ◽  
Very Preterm ◽  
Very Preterm Birth
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