Income Not a Factor in Low-Birth-Weight Black Babies

Upward mobility helps white women reduce their risk of a low-birth-weight baby but does not seem to help African-American women, a U.S. study found.

A Columbia University study involving more than 1,800 births found that among white women who grew up in poor households, the more their family income increased over time, the less likely they were to give birth to a low-birth-weight baby, but the same did not hold true for black women.

This discrepancy could not be attributable to lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking or lack of prenatal care, according to study leader Cynthia G. Colen.

Even while their financial situations are improving, black women face obstacles that white women do not — primarily because of racial discrimination, said Colen. For example, residential segregation makes it more difficult for upwardly mobile black families to secure housing in safe, healthy neighborhoods … creating additional stress for black women and ultimately affect the health of their infants.

However, the presence of a grandmother in a black household reduced the overall risk of low birth weight by 53 percent, according to the study published in the American Journal of Public Health.