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Risk and Protective Factors for Preterm Birth Among Black Women in Oakland, California

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Abstract

This project examines risk and protective factors for preterm birth (PTB) among Black women in Oakland, California. Women with singleton births in 2011–2017 (n = 6199) were included. Risk and protective factors for PTB and independent risk groups were identified using logistic regression and recursive partitioning. Having less than 3 prenatal care visits was associated with highest PTB risk. Hypertension (preexisting, gestational), previous PTB, and unknown Women, Infant, Children (WIC) program participation were associated with a two-fold increased risk for PTB. Maternal birth outside of the USA and participation in WIC were protective. Broad differences in rates, risks, and protective factors for PTB were observed.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the California Department of Public Health, but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission from the California Department of Public Health.

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Code Availability

Software application or custom code. Available upon request.

Funding

This research was supported by the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Preterm Birth Initiative, California, funded by Marc and Lynne Benioff. The study funder has no role in any of the study activities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Health Care Nursing, UCSF School of Nursing, 2 Koret Way, N431H, San Francisco, CA, 94134, USA

    Monica R. McLemore & Linda Franck

  2. School of Public Health, UC Berkeley, 2121 Berkeley Way, #5302, Berkeley, CA, 94704, USA

    Rachel L. Berkowitz

  3. California Preterm Birth Initiative, UCSF, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Scott P. Oltman, Rebecca J. Baer, Jonathan Fuchs, Deborah A. Karasek, Miriam Kuppermann, Safyer McKenzie-Sampson, Daphina Melbourne, Briane Taylor, Shanell Williams, Larry Rand, Brittany D. Chambers & Laura L. Jelliffe-Pawlowski

  4. Department of Pediatrics, UCSD, San Diego, CA, USA

    Rebecca J. Baer

  5. San Francisco Department of Public Health, 101 Grove Street, San Francisco, 94102, USA

    Jonathan Fuchs, Daphina Melbourne, Briane Taylor, Shanell Williams, Larry Rand & Brittany D. Chambers

  6. Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Deborah A. Karasek, Miriam Kuppermann & Karen Scott

  7. Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Safyer McKenzie-Sampson & Laura L. Jelliffe-Pawlowski

Authors
  1. Monica R. McLemore
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  2. Rachel L. Berkowitz
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  3. Scott P. Oltman
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  4. Rebecca J. Baer
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  5. Linda Franck
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  6. Jonathan Fuchs
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  7. Deborah A. Karasek
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  9. Safyer McKenzie-Sampson
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  10. Daphina Melbourne
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  11. Briane Taylor
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  12. Shanell Williams
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  13. Larry Rand
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  14. Brittany D. Chambers
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  15. Karen Scott
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  16. Laura L. Jelliffe-Pawlowski
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Contributions

All authors have participated in the study conception and design; data analysis and interpretation; critical development and revision of the article for significant intellectual content; and approval of the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Monica R. McLemore.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics Approval

Statistical Analysis Software version 9.4 (Cary, NC) was used to analyze data received by UCSF as of March 1, 2020. Methods and protocols for the study were approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS) (project # 2019-024, approved on 2/18/2020) which serves as the institutional review board (IRB) for the California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHSA). The role of the CPHS and other IRBs is to assure that research involving human subjects is conducted ethically and with minimum risk to participants.

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McLemore, M.R., Berkowitz, R.L., Oltman, S.P. et al. Risk and Protective Factors for Preterm Birth Among Black Women in Oakland, California. J. Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 8, 1273–1280 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00889-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00889-2

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