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Prenatal development in rural South Africa: relationship between birth weight and access to fathers and grandparents

Prenatal development in rural South Africa: relationship between birth weight and access to fathers and grandparents
Prenatal development in rural South Africa: relationship between birth weight and access to fathers and grandparents
Birth weight is an indicator of prenatal development associated with health in infancy and childhood, and may be affected by the family environment experienced by the mother during pregnancy. Using data from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, we explore the importance of the mother's access to the father and grandparents of the child during pregnancy. Controlling for household socio-economic indicators and maternal characteristics, the survival and residence of the biological father with the mother are positively associated with birth weight. The type of relationship seems to matter: married women have the heaviest newborns, but co-residence with a non-marital partner is also associated with higher birth weight. Access to the maternal grandmother may also be important: women whose mothers are alive have heavier newborns, but no additional benefit is observed from residing together. Co-residence with any grandparent is not associated with birth weight after controlling for the mother's partnership
0032-4728
229-246
Cunningham, Solveig Argeseanu
6b03ae45-1b9c-432f-b692-3d1554f86acd
Elo, Irma T.
433ad213-835c-4e3a-9023-d1220592b8a2
Herbst, Kobus
fab67269-11ef-4c52-91bc-635b00065504
Hosegood, Victoria
c59a89d5-5edc-42dd-b282-f44458fd2993
Cunningham, Solveig Argeseanu
6b03ae45-1b9c-432f-b692-3d1554f86acd
Elo, Irma T.
433ad213-835c-4e3a-9023-d1220592b8a2
Herbst, Kobus
fab67269-11ef-4c52-91bc-635b00065504
Hosegood, Victoria
c59a89d5-5edc-42dd-b282-f44458fd2993

Cunningham, Solveig Argeseanu, Elo, Irma T., Herbst, Kobus and Hosegood, Victoria (2010) Prenatal development in rural South Africa: relationship between birth weight and access to fathers and grandparents. Population Studies, 64 (3), 229-246. (doi:10.1080/00324728.2010.510201). (PMID:20954098)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Birth weight is an indicator of prenatal development associated with health in infancy and childhood, and may be affected by the family environment experienced by the mother during pregnancy. Using data from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, we explore the importance of the mother's access to the father and grandparents of the child during pregnancy. Controlling for household socio-economic indicators and maternal characteristics, the survival and residence of the biological father with the mother are positively associated with birth weight. The type of relationship seems to matter: married women have the heaviest newborns, but co-residence with a non-marital partner is also associated with higher birth weight. Access to the maternal grandmother may also be important: women whose mothers are alive have heavier newborns, but no additional benefit is observed from residing together. Co-residence with any grandparent is not associated with birth weight after controlling for the mother's partnership

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More information

Published date: November 2010
Organisations: Social Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 181347
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/181347
ISSN: 0032-4728
PURE UUID: 96fcd27f-9d35-40a3-b48d-8352ee418369
ORCID for Victoria Hosegood: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2244-2518

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Date deposited: 18 Apr 2011 10:20
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:56

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Contributors

Author: Solveig Argeseanu Cunningham
Author: Irma T. Elo
Author: Kobus Herbst

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