Prenatal healthcare after sentencing reform: heterogeneous effects for prenatal healthcare access and equity
Abstract Background High rates of imprisonment in the U.S. have significant health, social, and economic consequences, particularly for marginalized communities. This study examines imprisonment as a contextual driver of receiving prenatal care by evaluating whether early and adequate prenatal care...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-05-01
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| Series: | BMC Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13359-7 |
| _version_ | 1811235475560595456 |
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| author | Jaquelyn L. Jahn Jessica T. Simes |
| author_facet | Jaquelyn L. Jahn Jessica T. Simes |
| author_sort | Jaquelyn L. Jahn |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background High rates of imprisonment in the U.S. have significant health, social, and economic consequences, particularly for marginalized communities. This study examines imprisonment as a contextual driver of receiving prenatal care by evaluating whether early and adequate prenatal care improved after Pennsylvania’s criminal sentencing reform reduced prison admissions. Methods We linked individual-level birth certificate microdata on births (n = 999,503) in Pennsylvania (2009–2015), to monthly county-level rates of prison admissions. We apply an interrupted time series approach that contrasts post-policy changes in early and adequate prenatal care across counties where prison admissions were effectively reduced or continued to rise. We then tested whether prenatal care improvements were stronger among Black birthing people and those with lower levels of educational attainment. Results In counties where prison admissions declined the most after the policy, early prenatal care increased from 69.0% to 73.2%, and inadequate prenatal care decreased from 18.1% to 15.9%. By comparison, improvements in early prenatal care were smaller in counties where prison admissions increased the most post-policy (73.5 to 76.4%) and there was no change to prenatal care inadequacy (14.4% pre and post). We find this pattern of improvements to be particularly strong among Black birthing people and those with lower levels of educational attainment. Conclusions Pennsylvania’s sentencing reforms were associated with small advancements in racial and socioeconomic equity in prenatal care. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:52:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-55421488977c483b96b1542df96f5288 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-2458 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T11:52:29Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-55421488977c483b96b1542df96f52882022-12-22T03:34:08ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582022-05-012211910.1186/s12889-022-13359-7Prenatal healthcare after sentencing reform: heterogeneous effects for prenatal healthcare access and equityJaquelyn L. Jahn0Jessica T. Simes1The Ubuntu Center On Racism, Global Movements and Population Health Equity, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public HealthDepartment of Sociology, Boston UniversityAbstract Background High rates of imprisonment in the U.S. have significant health, social, and economic consequences, particularly for marginalized communities. This study examines imprisonment as a contextual driver of receiving prenatal care by evaluating whether early and adequate prenatal care improved after Pennsylvania’s criminal sentencing reform reduced prison admissions. Methods We linked individual-level birth certificate microdata on births (n = 999,503) in Pennsylvania (2009–2015), to monthly county-level rates of prison admissions. We apply an interrupted time series approach that contrasts post-policy changes in early and adequate prenatal care across counties where prison admissions were effectively reduced or continued to rise. We then tested whether prenatal care improvements were stronger among Black birthing people and those with lower levels of educational attainment. Results In counties where prison admissions declined the most after the policy, early prenatal care increased from 69.0% to 73.2%, and inadequate prenatal care decreased from 18.1% to 15.9%. By comparison, improvements in early prenatal care were smaller in counties where prison admissions increased the most post-policy (73.5 to 76.4%) and there was no change to prenatal care inadequacy (14.4% pre and post). We find this pattern of improvements to be particularly strong among Black birthing people and those with lower levels of educational attainment. Conclusions Pennsylvania’s sentencing reforms were associated with small advancements in racial and socioeconomic equity in prenatal care.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13359-7IncarcerationPrenatal careCriminal justice reformHealth equity |
| spellingShingle | Jaquelyn L. Jahn Jessica T. Simes Prenatal healthcare after sentencing reform: heterogeneous effects for prenatal healthcare access and equity BMC Public Health Incarceration Prenatal care Criminal justice reform Health equity |
| title | Prenatal healthcare after sentencing reform: heterogeneous effects for prenatal healthcare access and equity |
| title_full | Prenatal healthcare after sentencing reform: heterogeneous effects for prenatal healthcare access and equity |
| title_fullStr | Prenatal healthcare after sentencing reform: heterogeneous effects for prenatal healthcare access and equity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prenatal healthcare after sentencing reform: heterogeneous effects for prenatal healthcare access and equity |
| title_short | Prenatal healthcare after sentencing reform: heterogeneous effects for prenatal healthcare access and equity |
| title_sort | prenatal healthcare after sentencing reform heterogeneous effects for prenatal healthcare access and equity |
| topic | Incarceration Prenatal care Criminal justice reform Health equity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-13359-7 |
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