Residential mobility in the perinatal period among a statewide representative sample of women, 2003 – 2007

Background: Researchers are increasingly interested in using geocoded addresses from birth records or post-partum surveys (e.g., Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System [PRAMS]) to investigate how neighborhood factors such as socioeconomic status (SES) impact perinatal health. However, evidence suggests that 13 to 41 percent of women move during the perinatal period, suggesting the potential for substantial measurement error in neighborhood SES as well as differential measurement error by maternal demographic or socioeconomic characteristics.

Methods: Our sample included 18,273 California women from the 2003-2007 Maternal and Infant Health Assessment (MIHA) linked to birth records. We examined the prevalence of self-reported moving during pregnancy and in the first 2-7 months post-partum by maternal demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. We then categorized neighborhood SES using a principal components analysis index and examined whether mobile women moved within their neighborhood or to neighborhoods of similar, lower, or higher SES.

Results: Mothers who were young (<21 years), unmarried, non-Hispanic black or US-born Latina, or without a college education had the highest prevalence of perinatal residential mobility. Most movers (86%) stayed within their neighborhood; 7.5% moved to a neighborhood of similar SES, 3.9% moved to a higher SES neighborhood, and 2.8% moved to a lower SES neighborhood.

Conclusions: Residential mobility in the perinatal period occurs primarily within neighborhood or between neighborhoods of similar SES; birth records, MIHA, or PRAMs may therefore be adequate for assessing neighborhood SES. However, there is also evidence of strong race/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in residential mobility during this important time period.