Abstract
Objectives
To examine population-level associations between paternal jail incarceration during pregnancy and infant birth outcomes using objective measures of health and incarceration.
Methods
We use multivariate logistic regression models and linked records on all births and jail incarcerations in New York City between 2010 and 2016.
Results
0.8% of live births were exposed to paternal incarceration during pregnancy or at the time of birth. After accounting for parental sociodemographic characteristics, maternal health behaviors, and maternal health care access, paternal incarceration during pregnancy remains associated with late preterm birth (OR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.21, 1.48), low birthweight (OR = 1.39, 95% CI = 1.27, 1.53), small size for gestational age (OR = 1.35, 95% CI = 1.17, 1.57), and NICU admission (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.05, 1.24).
Conclusions
We found strong positive baseline associations (p < 0.001) between paternal jail incarceration during pregnancy with probabilities of all adverse outcomes examined. These associations did not appear to be driven purely by duration or frequency of paternal incarceration. These associations were partially explained by parental characteristics, maternal health behavior, and health care. These results indicate the need to consider paternal incarceration as a potential stressor and source of trauma for pregnant women and infants.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abraham, M., Alramadhan, S., Iniguez, C., Duijts, L., Jaddoe, V. W. V., Den Dekker, H. T., Crozier, S., Godfrey, K. M., Hindmarsh, P., Vik, T., Jacobsen, G. W., Hanke, W., Sobala, W., Devereux, G., & Turner, S. (2017). A systematic review of maternal smoking during pregnancy and fetal measurements with meta-analysis. PLoS ONE, 12(2), e0170946. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170946
Almond, D., & Currie, J. (2014). Killing me softly: The fetal origins hypothesis. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 25(3), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.25.3.153
Arditti, J.A., Lambert-Shute, J., & Joest, K. (2003). Saturday morning at the jail: Implications of incarceration for families and children. Family Relations, 52(3):195–204. Retrieved February 16, 2021, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/3700270
Bales, W. D., & Mears, D. (2008). Inmate social ties and the transition to society: Does visitation reduce recidivism? Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 45(3), 287–321. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427808317574
Barker, D. J. (1995). Fetal origins of coronary heart disease. British Medical Journal, 311(6998), 171–174. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.1997.tb18351.x
Binswanger, I. A., Krueger, P. M., & Steiner, J. F. (2009). Prevalence of chronic medical conditions among jail and prison inmates in the USA compared with the general population. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 63(11), 912–919. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2009.090662
Bonczar, T.P. (2003). Prevalence of imprisonment in the U.S. population, 1974–2001. Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics
Cho, R. M. (2009). The impact of maternal imprisonment on children’s educational achievement: Results from children in Chicago Public Schools. Journal of Human Resources, 44(3), 772–797. Retrieved July 11, 2019, from https://www.jstor.org/stable/20648916
Dumont, D. M., Wildeman, C., Lee, H., Gjelsvik, A., Valera, P., & Clarke, J. G. (2014). Incarceration, maternal hardship, and perinatal health behaviors. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 18, 2179–2187. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-014-1466-3
Enns, P. K., Yi, Y., Comfort, M., Goldman, A. W., Lee, H., Muller, C., Wakefield, S., Wang, E. A., & Wildeman, C. (2019). What percentage of Americans have ever had a family member incarcerated? Evidence from the family history of incarceration survey (FamHIS). Socius, 5, 1–45. https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023119829332
Eriksson, J. G. (2016). Developmental origins of health and disease – from a small body size at birth to epigenetics. Annals of Internal Medicine, 48(6), 456–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/07853890.2016.1193786
Groves, R. M., Fowler, F. J., Couper, M. P., Pekowski, J. M., Singer, E., & Tourangeau, R. (2009). Survey methodology. (2nd ed.). John Wiley and Sons.
Johnson, R., & Raphael, S. (2009). The effects of male incarceration dynamics on acquired immune deficiency syndrome infection rates among African American women and men. Journal of Law and Economics, 52, 251–293. https://doi.org/10.1086/597102
Kerker, B. D., Horwitz, S. M., & Leventhal, J. M. (2004). Patients’ characteristics and providers’ attitudes: Predictors of screening pregnant women for illicit substance use. Child Abuse and Neglect, 28, 209–223. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2003.07.004
Kleinman, J. C., Pierre, M. B., Madans, J. H., Land, G. H., & Schramm, W. F. (1988). The effects of maternal smoking on fetal and infant mortality. American Journal of Epidemiology, 127(2), 274–282
Kohler, U., Karlson, K. B., & Holm, A. (2011). Comparing coefficients of nested nonlinear probability models. Stata Journal, 11(3), 420–538. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x1101100306
Kunins, H. V., Bellin, E., Chazott, C., Du, E., & Arnsten, J. H. (2007). The effect of race on provider decisions to test for illicit drug use in the peripartum setting. Journal of Women’s Health, 16(2), 245–255. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2006.0070
Lee, H., Wildeman, C., Wang, E. A., Matusko, N., & Jackson, J. S. (2014). A heavy burden: The cardiovascular health consequences of having a family member incarcerated. American Journal of Public Health, 104(3), 421–427. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2013.301504
Massoglia, M. (2008). Incarceration as exposure: The prison, infectious disease, and other stress-related illnesses. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 49(1), 56–71. https://doi.org/10.1177/002214650804900105
Massoglia, M., & Pridemore, W. A. (2015). Incarceration and health. Annual Review of Sociology, 41, 291–310. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112326
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH). (2018). EpiQuery natality module, New York City, 2016. [Database online] New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Retrieved 27 June 2019 from https://a816-healthpsi.nyc.gov/epiquery/Birth/index.html
Nieburg, P., Marks, J. S., McLaren, N. M., & Remington, P. L. (1985). The fetal tobacco syndrome. JAMA, 253(20), 2998–2999. https://doi.org/10.1159/000065387
Patterson, E. J. (2010). Incarcerating death: Mortality in U.S. state correctional facilities. Demography, 47(3), 587–607
Pearlin, L. I., Menaghan, E. G., Lieberman, M. A., & Mullan, J. T. (1981). The stress process. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22(4), 337–356. https://doi.org/10.2307/2136676
Roettger, M. E., & Boardman, J. D. (2012). Parental incarceration and gender-based risks for increased body mass index: Evidence from the national longitudinal study of adolescent health in the united States. American Journal of Epidemiology, 175(7), 636–644. https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwr409
Schnittker, J., & John, A. (2007). Enduring stigma: The long-term effects of incarceration on health. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 48(2), 115–130. https://doi.org/10.1177/002214650704800202
Sexton, M., & Hebel, J. R. (1984). A clinical trial of change in maternal smoking and its effect on birth weight. JAMA, 251, 911–915 PMID: 6363731.
Stata [computer program]. (2015). Release 14.0. College Station, TX: StataCorp LP.
Sufrin, C., Beal, L., Clarke, J., Jones, R., & Mosher, W. D. (2019). Pregnancy outcomes in US prisons, 2016–2017. American Journal of Public Health, 109(5), 799–805. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305006
Testa, A., Jackson, D. B., Vaughn, M. G., & Bello, J. K. (2020). Incarceration as a unique social stressor during pregnancy: Implications for maternal and newborn health. Social Science & Medicine, 246, 112777. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112777
Thoits, P. A. (2010). Stress and health: Major findings and policy implications. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 51(1), S41–S53. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146510383499
Turney, K., & Conner, E. (2019). Jail incarceration: A common and consequential form of criminal justice contact. Annual Review of Criminology, 2, 265–290. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-criminol-011518-024601
Turney, K., Wildeman, C., & Schnittker, J. (2012). As fathers and felons: Explaining the effects of current and recent incarceration on major depression. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 53(4), 465–481. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146512462400
Wakefield, S., & Wildeman, C. (2013). Children of the prison boom: Mass incarceration and the future of American inequality. New York: Oxford.
Waller, M. R., & Swisher, R. (2006). Fathers’ risk factors in fragile families: Implications for ‘healthy’ relationships and father involvement. Social Forces, 53(3), 392–420. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2006.53.3.392
Wang, E. A., & Wildeman, C. (2011). Studying health disparities by including incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. JAMA, 305(16), 1708–1709. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2011.532
Wildeman, C. (2009). Parental imprisonment, the prison boom, and the concentration of childhood disadvantage. Demography, 46(2), 265–280. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.0.0052
Wildeman, C. (2012). Imprisonment and infant mortality. Social Problems, 59(2), 228–257. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2012.59.2.228
Wildeman, C., Goldman, A. W., & Turney, K. (2018). Parental incarceration and child health in the United States. Epidemiological Review, 40, 146–156. https://doi.org/10.1093/epirev/mxx013
Wildeman, C., & Muller, C. (2012). Mass imprisonment and inequality in health and family life. Annual Review of Law and Social Science, 8, 11–30. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-lawsocsci-102510-105459
Wildeman, C., Turney, K., & Yi, Y. (2016). Paternal incarceration and family functioning: Variation across federal, state, and local facilities. ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 665(1), 80–97. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716215625042
Wildeman, C., & Wang, E. A. (2017). Mass incarceration, public health, and widening inequality in the USA. Lancet, 389(10077), 1464–1474. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30259-3
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to: Alison Yager for facilitating the broader collaboration that made this project possible; Hiu Tai Chan for his critical assistance in the data preparation and linkage procedure; Maria Fitzpatrick for assistance in managing the secure computing environment for data analysis at Cornell University; and Lawton Bourne, Diane Burton, Deborah Kaplan, Katharine McVeigh, and Hannah Searing for valuable feedback on earlier versions of this work.
Funding
This research was supported by a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation and a faculty grant from the Center for the Study of Inequality at Cornell University.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
YY designed and conducted all analyses, contributed substantially to the data linkage process, produced all final tables, and drafted and revised the manuscript. Joseph Kennedy led the data linkage procedure and conducted the data match, provided feedback on the analysis, and provided substantial feedback on the initial and revised manuscript. CC provided feedback on the research design and provided substantial feedback on the initial and revised manuscript. Mary Huynh facilitated and provided feedback on the data linkage procedure and provided substantial feedback on the analytic plan and on the initial and revised estimates and manuscript. Yang Jiang provided substantial feedback on the initial and revised estimates and manuscript and facilitated the collaboration between the authors’ institutions. CW conceptualized the project, facilitated the collaboration between the authors’ institutions, provided substantial feedback on the research design and analysis, and provided substantial and critical feedback on the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.
Ethical Approval
This work was deemed exempt from review by the Institutional Review Board of Cornell University, the institution with which two of the authors were affiliated at the time this research was conducted, and approved by the Institutional Review Board of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendix
Appendix
See Tables 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yi, Y., Kennedy, J., Chazotte, C. et al. Paternal Jail Incarceration and Birth Outcomes: Evidence from New York City, 2010–2016. Matern Child Health J 25, 1221–1241 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03168-6
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03168-6