Beyond the Virus: How Ethnoracial Preterm Birth Disparities Interact with COVID-19 Indicators Open Access

Abstract

In the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare has been significantly affected beyond the SARS-CoV-2 viral infection itself. Despite this, little research has been conducted around the intersection of race and COVID-19 effects on healthcare in relation to pregnancy outcomes—specifically, preterm birth. Using a quasi-experimental quantitative design to compare the years 2019 and 2020 for preterm birth risk, I examined these three questions: (1) how has the year 2020 affected county-level preterm birth risk in Georgia; (2) how have racial health disparities in preterm birth risk changed between 2019 and 2020 by county in Georgia; and (3) what is the relationship between county-level COVID-19 outcomes, race, and preterm birth risk in Georgia counties? The results showed consistently higher preterm risk for Black mothers regardless of year, COVID, or their intersection, but also showed conflicting preterm risk for Asian mothers depending on COVID-19 factors, year, and their intersection. These findings reveal the need to continue pushing for reduced pregnancy disparities for Black mothers as well as the importance of continuing to research the pandemic’s effects on pregnancy outcomes in greater detail in order to uncover possible reasons for the discrepancies in preterm risk for Asian mothers found in this study.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

I. Introduction..................................................................................................................................1

II. Literature Review........................................................................................................................4

Racial Disparities in the Pandemic.....................................................................................5

Pregnancy and Viral Infections...........................................................................................7

Pandemic-Related Changes to Social Structures and Subsequent Effects on Pregnancy...9

Limitations and Research Gaps.........................................................................................10

III. Research Questions..................................................................................................................11

IV. Hypotheses ..............................................................................................................................12

V. Methods ....................................................................................................................................13

Dataset...............................................................................................................................13

Variables............................................................................................................................14

Data Analysis.....................................................................................................................15

VI. Results .....................................................................................................................................16

            Descriptive Statistics..........................................................................................................16

            Logistic Regressions..........................................................................................................16

VII. Discussion .............................................................................................................................19

VIII. References.............................................................................................................................24

IX. Tables and Figures ..................................................................................................................28

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Sociology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Sociology, Ethnic and Racial Studies Sociology, General Sociology, Theory and Methods
Keyword	COVID-19 Birth Pandemic Pregnancy Race
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Alyasah "Ali" Sewell, Emory University
Committee Members	Ellen Idler, Emory University Shivani Patel, Emory University

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