Birth Outcomes in a Disaster Recovery Environment: New Orleans Women After Katrina.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To examine how the recovery following Hurricane Katrina affected pregnancy outcomes.

Methods

308 New Orleans area pregnant women were interviewed 5-7 years after Hurricane Katrina about their exposure to the disaster (danger, damage, and injury); current disruption; and perceptions of recovery. Birthweight, gestational age, birth length, and head circumference were examined in linear models, and low birthweight (<2500 g) and preterm birth (<37 weeks) in logistic models, with adjustment for confounders.

Results

Associations were found between experiencing damage during Katrina and birthweight (adjusted beta for high exposure = -158 g) and between injury and gestational age (adjusted beta = -0.5 days). Of the indicators of recovery experience, most consistent

SUBMITTER: Harville EW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4596760 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature