Feinberg
Northwestern Medicine | Northwestern University | Faculty Profiles

News Center

  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Menu
  • Categories
    • Campus News
    • Disease Discoveries
    • Clinical Breakthroughs
    • Education News
    • Scientific Advances
  • Press Releases
  • Media Coverage
  • Podcasts
  • Editor’s Picks
    • COVID-19
    • Cardiology
    • Cancer
    • Neurology and Neuroscience
    • Aging and Longevity
    • Artificial Intelligence in Medicine
  • News Archives
  • About Us
    • Media Contact
    • Share Your News
    • News Feeds
    • Social Media
    • Contact Us
Home » Student Investigates Link Between Neighborhood Safety and Pregnancy Outcomes
Clinical Breakthroughs

Student Investigates Link Between Neighborhood Safety and Pregnancy Outcomes

By Olivia DimmerJul 17, 2023
Share
Facebook Twitter Email
Julia Carter, a fourth-year medical student at Feinberg, was first author of the study published in JAMA Network Open.

Pregnant people who report feeling unsafe in their neighborhood are more likely to experience depression during pregnancy and have a baby with a low birth weight, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

Julia Carter, a fourth-year medical student at Feinberg and first author of the paper, said the study aimed to understand the connection between perceived safety and pregnancy outcomes.

“There have been several studies about the association between neighborhood crime and adverse pregnancy outcomes, but very little on this more subjective concept of perceived neighborhood safety,” Carter said. “That’s what we wanted to explore: to see how one’s perception of safety, which is a different concept than actual reported neighborhood crime, could influence their own health. Poor neighborhood perception may influence health outcomes through a direct biological pathway by increasing levels of maternal stress, which is well-known to impact pregnancy outcomes.”

In the study, nearly 30,000 pregnant people from eight different states in the U.S. who participated in the CDC’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) were asked about the perceived safety of their neighborhood. Roughly 78 percent reported they never felt unsafe in their neighborhood, 14 percent said they rarely felt unsafe, 5 percent sometimes felt unsafe and 3 percent always or often felt unsafe.

After controlling for individual demographic and clinical risk factors including exposure to interpersonal physical and emotional abuse, those who reported always or often feeling unsafe were two times more likely to experience depression during pregnancy, 23 percent more likely to have a baby with a low birth weight and 10 percent less likely to attend more than eight prenatal care visits, according to the study. Perceived neighborhood safety was not associated with postpartum visit attendance or breastfeeding.

The findings highlight the influences of individual- and community-level social determinants of health, Carter said.

“This study has a zoomed-in, specific focus on perceived neighborhood safety and pregnancy outcomes, but our findings are relevant to a broader scope of social determinants of health in general,” Carter said. “Addressing these issues must take place beyond the clinic and the hospital. It’s really important to recognize these factors that could be playing a role in the patient’s health.”

Lynn Yee, MD, MPH, the Thomas J. Watkins Memorial Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, was senior author of the study published in JAMA Network Open.

For Carter, the findings are also a reminder that physicians need to discuss these difficult topics with patients.

“There are many screening tools out there for interpersonal violence and domestic violence that are important to keep in mind while working with patients,” Carter said. “Although these are sensitive topics, it’s necessary to address them with patients because these are topics patients want to talk about, but it’s hard for them to bring up.”

Future work is still needed to see what interventions would be helpful in addressing these disparities, said Lynn Yee, MD, MPH, the Thomas J. Watkins Memorial Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and senior author of the study.

“Our team was struck by these findings, particularly the relationship of low perceived neighborhood safety to the significantly increased risk of perinatal depression. We know there is a maternal mental health crisis in the U.S., and our work speaks to the importance of not just addressing mental health in the clinic and via direct patient care, but by developing interventions on a community and societal level, too,” Yee said. “The growing body of literature on adverse community and neighborhood social determinants of health, such as neighborhood safety, represents a call to action – we need social policies that better support the health of pregnant people and their families.”

Joseph Feinglass, PhD, research professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, was also a co-author of the study.

Public Health Research Students Women’s Health
Share. Facebook Twitter Email

Related Posts

Small, Implantable Device Could Sense and Treat Cancer

Sep 26, 2023

Gene Linked to Glioblastoma Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Immunosuppression

Sep 26, 2023

Investigating the Link Between Iron Deficiency and Regulation of Cell Growth

Sep 25, 2023

Comments are closed.

Latest News

Lloyd-Jones Announces He is Stepping Down as Chair of Preventive Medicine

Sep 27, 2023

Small, Implantable Device Could Sense and Treat Cancer

Sep 26, 2023

Gene Linked to Glioblastoma Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Immunosuppression

Sep 26, 2023

Northwestern Simulation’s In Situ Training Tests Cardiac Arrest Response Teams

Sep 25, 2023

Investigating the Link Between Iron Deficiency and Regulation of Cell Growth

Sep 25, 2023
  • News Center Home
  • Categories
  • Press Release
  • Media Coverage
  • Editor’s Picks
  • News Archives
  • About Us
Flickr Photos
20230914_NM461
20230914_NM644
20230914_NM345
20230914_NM444
20230914_NM464
20230914_NM520
20230914_NM673
20230914_NM641
20230914_NM612
20230914_NM608
20230914_NM602
20230914_NM597

Northwestern University logo

Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

RSS Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Flickr YouTube Instagram
Copyright © 2023 Northwestern University
  • Contact Northwestern University
  • Disclaimer
  • Campus Emergency Information
  • Policy Statements

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.