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ETD Abstract Container

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Neighborhood Composition, Immigrant Status, and the Risk of Low Birthweight among Black Women in Ohio

McKay, Mary Ana
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1478526771566044

Abstract Details

2016, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, Sociology.
In the United States, racial disparities in infant health remain grim even in the face of medical advancements and expanding healthcare coverage. Compared to White women, Black women are more than twice as likely to give birth to a low birthweight baby. Racial inequalities in perinatal outcomes among Black immigrant women are not as pronounced, however, they tend to widen the longer mothers reside in the United States. Despite considerable research on this topic, little is known about the distal social factors that contribute to these somber racial inequalities in perinatal outcomes. One aspect of the social landscape that has been shown to significantly impact health, particularly among marginalized populations, is the neighborhood environment. In particular, residential segregation and immigrant enclaves are two key neighborhood conditions that have divergent effects on birth outcomes. Using 8 years of birth certificate data in conjunction with information from the American Community Survey, I examine the association between two key neighborhood characteristics – residential segregation and immigrant enclaves – and the likelihood of giving birth to a low birthweight baby among both native and foreign-born Black women in the three largest cities in Ohio. First, I find that when living in neighborhoods with low concentrations of Black residents, foreign-born Black women face significantly lower odds of low birth weight compared to native born-Black women. However, in neighborhoods with high concentrations of Black residents, foreign and native-born Black women face similar odds of low birth weight. Second, the association between neighborhood immigrant concentration and risk of low birth weight appears to significantly differ for native and foreign-born Black women. As the proportion of immigrants within a neighborhood increases, the odds of low birth weight decrease for foreign-born Black women but remain unaffected for native-born Black women. These findings suggest that neighborhood characteristics are likely to influence perinatal outcomes among immigrant and non-immigrant Black populations in distinct ways.
Cynthia Colen (Advisor)
54 p.
Sociology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McKay, M. A. (2016). Neighborhood Composition, Immigrant Status, and the Risk of Low Birthweight among Black Women in Ohio [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1478526771566044

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McKay, Mary Ana. Neighborhood Composition, Immigrant Status, and the Risk of Low Birthweight among Black Women in Ohio. 2016. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1478526771566044.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McKay, Mary Ana. "Neighborhood Composition, Immigrant Status, and the Risk of Low Birthweight among Black Women in Ohio." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1478526771566044

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1478526771566044
502
© 2016, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.