A Balanced Weight: Explaining the Nativity Gap in Low Birth Weight Among Black Women

• In Event: 322 - Section on Medical Sociology Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 11. Maternal Health

Abstract

U.S.-born Black women often suffer poorer birth outcomes than Black immigrant women in the United States. Obese women in addition to Black women are at an increased risk of adverse birth outcomes, but there is a paucity in research examining the potential interaction effects of nativity and BMI on birth outcomes among Black women. In this research, I explore the health consequences associated with nativity and pre-pregnancy body mass index among Black women giving birth in the Central New York region using data from the 2004 through 2010 New York Statewide Perinatal Data System. Specifically, I examine the likelihood of the occurrence of a low birth weight birth. This research reveals that comparable morbidity profiles among Black women eliminate the foreign-born advantage with regard to nativity disparities in low birth weight. I conclude with a theoretical discussion of assimilation and with policy recommendations for improving the health and well-being of both U.S.-born Black women and foreign-born Black women.

Author

• Karyn Alayna Stewart, Washington University-St. Louis