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Jail incarceration and birth outcomes

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Abstract

This study examined the relationships between jail incarceration during pregnancy and infant birth weight, preterm birth, and fetal growth restriction. We used multivariate regression analyses to compare outcomes for 496 births to women who were in jail for part of pregnancy with 4,960 Medicaid-funded births as matched community controls. After adjusting for potential confounding variables, the relationship between jail incarceration and birth outcomes was modified by maternal age. Relative to controls, women incarcerated during pregnancy had progressively higher odds of low birth weight and preterm birth through age 39 years; conversely, jail detainees older than 39 years were less likely than controls to experience low birth weight or preterm birth. For women in jail at all ages, postrelease maternity case management was associated with decreased odds of low birth weight, whereas prenatal care was associated with decreased odds of preterm birth. Local jails are important sites for public health intervention. Efforts to ensure that all pregnant women released from jail have access to enhanced prenatal health services may improve perinatal outcomes for this group of particularly vulnerable women and infants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Child Health Institute, University of Washington, Box 354920, 98195-4920, Seattle, WA, USA

    Janice F. Bell MN, MPH (doctoral candidate) &  Colleen E. Huebner (Associate Professor)

  2. Department of Health Services, University of, Washington, USA

    Frederick J. Zimmerman (Assistant Professor)

  3. Division of Research and Data Analysis, First Steps Database, Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Washington, USA

    Mary Lawrence Cawthon (Project Manager)

  4. Department of Psychosocial and Community Health Nursing, University of, Washington, USA

    Deborah H. Ward (Associate Professors) &  Carole A. Schroeder (Associate Professors)

Authors
  1. Janice F. Bell MN, MPH
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  2. Frederick J. Zimmerman
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  3. Mary Lawrence Cawthon
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  4. Colleen E. Huebner
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  5. Deborah H. Ward
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  6. Carole A. Schroeder
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janice F. Bell MN, MPH.

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Bell, J.F., Zimmerman, F.J., Cawthon, M.L. et al. Jail incarceration and birth outcomes. J Urban Health 81, 630–644 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1093/jurban/jth146

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jurban/jth146

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