Infant Mortality
Relevant Literature
Relevant Literature
CITATION
Premji, S. S., Pana, G. S., Cuncannon, A., Ronksley, P. E., Dosani, A., Hayden, K. A., Lalani, S., Musana, J. W., Shaikh, K., Yim, I. S., & Maternal-infant Global Health Team Collaborators in, R. (2022). Prenatal allostatic load and preterm birth: A systematic review. Front Psychol, 13, 1004073. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1004073
ABSTRACT
Prospective cohort design and short-term data collection of the included studies warrant discussion. Although the studies were prospective cohorts, data were generally collected and analyzed at just two timepoints: once during pregnancy and once at delivery. Short-term longitudinal studies likely cannot comprehensively examine moderating and mediating effects as well as intermediate outcomes along pathways of chronic stress, AL, and allostatic overload. Evidently, longitudinal studies that follow people for substantially longer time frames are needed to comprehensively capture the burden and effects of cumulative life stress throughout the life course (D’Amico et al., 2020). The sociodemographic profiles of the three included studies warrant discussion. Two of three cohorts were predominantly comprised of pregnant participants who were white, had post secondary education, and received prenatal care in urban areas of the United States. Notably, higher AL has been observed in individuals, communities, and populations faced with socio structural inequities and exclusion including racism and poverty (Geronimus et al., 2006; Shalowitz et al., 2019). Strikingly disparate rates of adverse birth and health outcomes are recognized to be the result of environmental factors given the social construction of race (Shalowitz et al., 2019; Leimert and Olson, 2020). Although the included studies touched on some of these disparities, the lack of diversity in the sociodemographic profiles of the study cohorts underscores a need for future research with participation that better reflects community and population diversity.
⤓ Prenatal allostatic load and preterm birth: A systematic review
CITATION
Lueth, A. J., Allshouse, A. A., Blue, N. M., Grobman, W. A., Levine, L. D., Simhan, H. N., Kim, J. K., Johnson, J., Wilson, F. A., Murtaugh, M., Silver, R. M., for the National Institutes of Health , E. K. S. N. I. o. C. H., Human Development , N. P. O. S. M. M.-t.-B., National Heart, L., & Study, B. I. n. b. H. H. (2022). Allostatic Load and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 140(6), 974-982. https://doi.org/10.1097/aog.0000000000004971
ABSTRACT
High allostatic load in the first trimester is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes, particularly HDP. Allostatic load was a partial mediator between race and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The association between allostatic load and HDP differed by self-reported race.
CITATION
Geronimus, A. T., Pearson, J. A., Linnenbringer, E., Eisenberg, A. K., Stokes, C., Hughes, L. D., & Schulz, A. J. (2020). Weathering in Detroit: Place, Race, Ethnicity, and Poverty as Conceptually Fluctuating Social Constructs Shaping Variation in Allostatic Load. Milbank Q, 98(4), 1171-1218. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12484
ABSTRACT
US population health inequity remains entrenched, despite mandates to eliminate it. To promote a public health approach of consequence in this domain, stakeholders call for moving from risk-factor epidemiology toward consideration of dynamic local variations in the physiological impacts of structured lived experience. One-size-fits all analytic or policy models developed from the perspective of the dominant social group insufficiently address the experiences of diverse populations in specific settings and historical moments; nor do they recognize culturally mediated protective resources residents may have developed against material and psychosocial hardship.
Despite 30 years of attention to eliminating population health inequity, it remains entrenched, calling for new approaches. Targeted universalism, wellness-based local development, and Jedi Public Health approaches that are community informed, evidence based, and focused on improving everyday settings and diverse lived experiences are important policy directions. State and federal revenue transfers are necessary to mitigate the harms of austerity and assure greater equity in fiscal and population health in places like Detroit, Michigan.
Length of residence in the United States may erode this initial immigrant advantage through multiple mechanisms. Qualitative studies conducted in Detroit within the Mexican population by Viruell-Fuentes have reported evidence suggesting that as new immigrants reside in the United States longer, or as their children are raised in the United States,they increasingly engage and negotiate majority-white social institutions in daily interactions.6,77 The more prevalent negative prejudices and stereotypes encountered through these interactions increase the degree to which immigrants are acutely aware of and attuned to dehumanizing ideologies associated with US racial hierarchies that may activate physiological stress processes.
CITATION
Li, Y., Rosemberg, M. S., & Seng, J. S. (2018). Allostatic load: A theoretical model for understanding the relationship between maternal posttraumatic stress disorder and adverse birth outcomes. Midwifery, 62, 205-213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2018.04.002
ABSTRACT
Adverse birth outcomes such as preterm birth and low birth weight are significant public health concerns and contribute to neonatal morbidity and mortality. Studies have increasingly been exploring the predictive effects of maternal posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on adverse birth outcomes. However, the biological mechanisms by which maternal PTSD affects birth outcomes are not well understood. Allostatic load refers to the cumulative dysregulations of the multiple physiological systems as a response to multiple social-ecological levels of chronic stress. Allostatic load has been well documented in relation to both chronic stress and adverse health outcomes in non-pregnant populations. However, the mediating role of allostatic load is less understood when it comes to maternal PTSD and adverse birth outcomes. Our purpose is to propose a theoretical model that depicts how allostatic load could mediate the impact of maternal PTSD on birth outcomes.