Abstract
Despite advancements in prenatal care and technologies, significant disparities in pregnancy outcomes remain. Non-Hispanic Black women and their infants suffer a disproportionately high burden of poor pregnancy outcomes in comparison to non-Hispanic White women. Race and socioeconomic status alone have failed to account for these persistent disparities; increasing evidence has associated environmental and social factors with poor pregnancy outcomes. This project investigates the joint contributions of environmental and psychosocial factors to the cycle of disparities in pregnancy outcomes in the Healthy Pregnancy, Healthy Baby prospective cohort study of pregnant women in Durham, North Carolina. The results indicate that women who are disadvantaged are exposed to multiple environmental and psychological stressors throughout their pregnancy, some of which are in turn related to the pregnancy outcomes of some of these women. Suggestions on breaking the cycle of disadvantage and disability are discussed.
©2012 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston