205791 Role of partner support in reducing Black-White disparities in negative maternal health behaviors: Findings from the Los Angeles Mommy and Baby (LAMB) survey

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Fathima Wakeel, PhDc , Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Eunice Muthengi Karei, MPH, MSW , Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Angie Denisse Otiniano, MPH , School of Public Health Department of Community Health Sciences, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Akilah Wise, MSPH , Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Michael C. Lu, MD, MPH , Department of Community Health Sciences and Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California Los Angeles School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA
OBJECTIVE: To determine how partner support during pregnancy contributes to reducing the African American (AA)-White disparities in tobacco use during pregnancy and in breastfeeding initiation and duration. METHODS: Data from the first wave of 2007 Los Angeles Mommy and Baby (LAMB) Survey was used. LAMB is a mail sample survey with telephone follow-up for non-respondents based on multistage clustered design. Our preliminary analyses were based on the unweighted responses of 1,053 women with a live birth in 2007 in Los Angeles County. Partner support was operationalized as relational, emotional, and instrumental support. The relationships between race/ethnicity, health behaviors, and partner support were examined using Pearson chi square tests and logistic regression. RESULTS: The odds of AAs smoking during pregnancy, when compared to Whites, reduced from 4.84 (p<0.01) to 3.81-4.55 (p<0.01) when the model adjusted for the effects of partner support. AAs were 3 times less likely than Whites to initiate breastfeeding (UOR = 3.06; p<0.01). Partner support partly mediated this association (AOR =2.27-2.52; p=0.054-0.079). AAs were also 2.3 times less likely than Whites to breastfeed for at least 6 months (UOR=2.34; p<0.05). This disparity decreased when the model adjusted for the effects of partner support (AOR= 1.97-2.20; p=0.057-0.105). DISCUSSION: Adjusting for the effects of partner support appears to partly mediate the AA-White disparities in tobacco use during pregnancy and breastfeeding initiation and duration. Programmatic and policy intervention to increase partner support during pregnancy among AAs are warranted to potentially reduce these disparities in negative health behaviors.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session, the participants will be able to Describe the components of maternal resiliency; Discuss the meditational properties of partner support in AA-White disparities in tobacco use during pregnancy and breastfeeding initiation and duration; Discuss programmatic and policy implications of our findings.

Keywords: Breast Feeding, Smoking

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been working with the LAMB study project and data for the past three years. I am also a PhD candidate.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Joint Poster Session: Child Care and Los Angeles Mother Baby Survey
See more of: Maternal and Child Health