Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Impact of Immigration and Duration of Residence in US on Length of Gestation Among Black Women in Newark, New Jersey

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Little is known about pregnancy outcomes of black immigrant women to the US. We surveyed 447 black women post-partum in two hospitals in Newark, NJ. Length of gestation was obtained from medical records. Covariates and information on immigration were collected by in-person interview. Risks ratios for preterm birth (< 37 weeks) comparing immigrant to US-born women were calculated using log-binomial regression. Associations with gestational age at delivery were estimated using linear regression. Multivariable models adjusted for socioeconomic and social/behavioral variables. Immigrant women relative to US-born women had a 60% lower risk of preterm birth (adjusted risk ratio = 0.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.2, 0.8) and longer gestation (adjusted difference = 1.4 weeks, 95%CI 0.6, 2.1). Gestation was 1.9 weeks longer for recent immigrants compared to US-born women (95%CI 0.2, 3.6), whereas for those who lived in the US for at least 10 years there was no difference. The healthy immigrant effect found among black immigrants may erode with time in the US.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Osterman MJK, et al. Births: final data for 2014. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2015;64(12):1–64.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hamilton BE, Martin JA, Osterman MJK, et al. Births: provisional data for 2016. Vital statistics rapid release. vol 2. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/ report002.pdf. Accessed 21 Sept 2017.

  3. Blencowe H, Cousens S, Chou D, Oestergaard M, Say L, Moller AB, et al. Born too soon: the global epidemiology of 15 million preterm births. Reprod Health. 2013;10(Suppl 1):2. https://doi.org/10.1186/1742-4755-10-S1-S2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Kistka ZAF, Palomar L, Lee KA, Boslaugh SE, Wangler MF, Cole FS, et al. Racial disparity in the frequency of recurrence of preterm birth. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2007;196(2):131-e1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Howard DL, Marshall SS, Kaufman JS, Savitz DA. Variations in low birth weight and preterm delivery among Blacks in relation to ancestry and nativity: New York City, 1998–2002. Pediatrics 2006;118:e1399–405.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Cabral H, Fried LE, Levenson S, Amaro H, Zuckeman B. Foreign-born and US-born Black Women: differences in health behaviors and birth outcomes. Am J Public Health. 1990;80:70–2.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Chavkin W, Busner C, Mclaughlin M. Reproductive health: Caribbean women in New York City, 1980–1984. Int Migr Rev. 1987;21(3):609–625.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Fang J, Madhavan S, Alderman MH. Low birth weight: race and maternal nativity—impact of community income. Pediatrics 1999;103(1):e5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Friedman DJ, Cohen BB, Mahan CM, Lederman RI, Vezina RJ, Dunn VH. Maternal ethnicity and birthweight among blacks. Ethn Dis. 1993;3(3):255–69.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Kleinman JC, Fingerhut LA, Prager K. Differences in infant mortality by race, nativity status, and other maternal characteristics. Am J Dis Child. 1991;145(2):194–9.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Pallotto EK, Collins JW Jr, David RJ. Enigma of maternal race and infant birth weight: a population-based study of US-born Black and Caribbean-born Black women. Am J Epidemiol. 2000;151(11):1080–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Rosenberg KD, Desai RA, Kan J. Why do foreign-born blacks have lower infant mortality than native-born blacks? New directions in African-American infant mortality research. J Natl Med Assoc. 2002;94(9):770.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Singh GK, Yu SM. Adverse pregnancy outcomes: differences between US- and foreign-born women in major US racial and ethnic groups. Am J Public Health. 1996;86(6):837–43.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Acevedo-Garcia D, Soobader MJ, Berkman LF. The differential effect of foreign-born status on low birth weight by race/ethnicity and education. Pediatrics 2005;115(1):e20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Urquia ML, Glazier RH, Blondel B, Zeitlin J, Gissler M, Macfarlane A, et al. International migration and adverse birth outcomes: role of ethnicity, region of origin and destination. J Epidemiol Commun Health. 2010;64(3):243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. David RJ, Collins JW Jr. Differing birth weight among infants of US-born blacks, African-born blacks, and US-born whites. New Engl J Med. 1997;337(17):1209–14.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Fennelly K. The “healthy migrant” effect. Minn Med. 2007;90(3):51–3.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Ceballos M. Simulating the effects of acculturation and return migration on the maternal and infant health of Mexican immigrants in the United States: a research note. Demography 2011;48(2):425–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Bukowski R, Robinson J. 17: Residence in the US a risk factor for preterm birth. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2012;206(1):S12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Guendelman S, English PB. Effect of United States residence on birth outcomes among Mexican immigrants: an exploratory study. Am J Epidemiol. 1995;142(Supplement_9):30–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Jamner M, Schneider, Stokols D, editors Promoting human wellness: new frontiers for research, practice, and policy. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2000. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt4r29q2tg/.

  22. Guendelman SD, Ritterman-Weintraub ML, Fernald LCH, Kaufer-Horwitz M. Weight status of Mexican immigrant women: a comparison with women in Mexico and with US-born Mexican American women. Am J Public Health. 2013;103(9):1634–40. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2012.301171.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Kaestner R, Pearson JA, Keene D, Geronimus AT. Stress, allostatic load, and health of Mexican immigrants. Soc Sci Q. 2009;90(5):1089–111.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  24. Anderson M. (2015). African immigrant population in U.S. steadily climbs. Pew research center. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/14/african-immigrant-population-in-u-s-steadily-climbs/. Accessed 9 Mar 2018.

  25. United States Census Bureau. Selected characteristics of the native and foreign-born populations: 2011–2015 American community survey 5-year estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, 2011–2015 American community survey 5-year estimates. 2015. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_5YR_S0501&prodType=table. Accessed 18 Oct 2017.

  26. Amasha H, Jaradeh M. Effect of active and passive smoking during pregnancy on its outcomes. Health Sci J. 2012;6:335–52.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Albertsen K, Andersen AMN, Olsen J, Grønbæk M. Alcohol consumption during pregnancy and the risk of preterm delivery. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;159(2):155–61.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Tian L, Liu K, Spiegelman D, Hertzmark E. Re: Easy SAS calculations for risk or prevalence ratios and differences. Am J Epidemiol. 2005;162:1157–8; author reply 1159–61.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Understanding Premature Birth and Assuring Healthy Outcomes, Behrman RE, Butler AS, editors. Preterm birth: causes, consequences, and prevention. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, US; 2007. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11365/. Accessed 14 Sept 2017.

  30. Floyd RL, Rimer BK, Giovino G, Mullen PD, Sullivan SE. A review of smoking in pregnancy: effects on pregnancy outcomes and cessation efforts. Annu Rev Public Health. 1993;14:379–411.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Janevic T, Savitz DA, Janevic M. Maternal education and adverse birth outcomes among immigrant women to the United States from Eastern Europe: a test of the healthy migrant hypothesis. Soc Sci Med. 2011;73(3):429–35.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Luo Z-C, Wilkins R, Kramer MS, for the Fetal and Infant Health Study Group of the Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System. Effect of neighbourhood income and maternal education on birth outcomes: a population-based study. CMAJ 2006;174(10):1415–20. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.051096.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  33. Crump C, Lipsky S, Mueller BA. Adverse birth outcomes among Mexican-Americans: are US-born women at greater risk than Mexico-born women? Ethn Health. 1999;4(1–2):29–34.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Halfon N, Larson K, Lu M, Tullis E, Russ S. Lifecourse health development: past, present and future. Matern Child Health J. 2014;18(2):344–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-013-1346-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Salafia C, Shiverick K. Cigarette smoking and pregnancy. II. Vascular effects. Placenta 1999;20:273–9.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Berg C, Wilcox L, d’Almada P. The prevalence of socioeconomic and behavioral characteristics and their impact on very low birth weight in black and white infants in Georgia. Matern Child Health J. 2001;5(2):75–84.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Venditti CC, Smith GN. Self-reported cigarette smoking status imprecisely quantifies exposure in pregnancy. Open J Obstet Gynecol. 2012;2(01):56.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, 683 Hoes Lane West, 2nd Floor, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    Amira Elsayed

  2. Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA, 02111, USA

    Ndidiamaka N. Amutah-Onukagha

  3. March of Dimes Foundation, White Plains, NY, USA

    Laurie Navin

  4. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women’s Health, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA

    Lisa Gittens-Williams

  5. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Health Science, Blavatnik Family Women’s Health Research Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Teresa Janevic

  6. Department of Population Health Science and Health Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Teresa Janevic

Authors
  1. Amira Elsayed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ndidiamaka N. Amutah-Onukagha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Laurie Navin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lisa Gittens-Williams
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Teresa Janevic
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amira Elsayed.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Elsayed, A., Amutah-Onukagha, N.N., Navin, L. et al. Impact of Immigration and Duration of Residence in US on Length of Gestation Among Black Women in Newark, New Jersey. J Immigrant Minority Health 21, 1095–1101 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0813-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-018-0813-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation