Acculturation and maternal health behaviors: findings from the Massachusetts birth certificate.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although prior studies have shown disparities in maternal health behaviors according to race/ethnicity and acculturation, whether these patterns are evident among new immigrant populations remains unclear.

Purpose

To examine the associations among proxies of acculturation and maternal smoking during pregnancy and breastfeeding initiation within each major ethnic group in Massachusetts.

Methods

Data were from the Standard Certificate of Live Births on 1,067,375 babies by mothers from 31 ethnic groups for 1996-2009. Mothers reported whether they smoked during pregnancy and the birth facility recorded whether mothers started breastfeeding. The acculturation proxy combined mothers' country of birth and language preference: U.S.-born, foreign-born English-speaki

SUBMITTER: Hawkins SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4106991 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature