Racial disparities in gestational weight gain and adverse pregnancy outcomes among Black and White pregnant people with obesity.

Objective: This study of pregnant people with obesity examined two aims in testing the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic widened racial disparity in maternal health in high-risk pregnancies; it compared by race both (1) gestational weight gain (GWG) patterns and (2) patterns of preexisting conditions and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: This retrospective chart review included birth certificate and delivery records from a large women's specialty hospital in Louisiana between 2018 and 2022. Differences in preexisting conditions, GWG, and adverse pregnancy outcomes were explored across early-, peak-, and late-pandemic periods using log-linear regression and robust Poisson models.

Equity Analysis of a Reproductive Health Association: a Case Study.

Purpose: To demonstrate the process and results of an equity analysis of a reproductive health association.

Description: A series of quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews were conducted with employees of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM), assessing different aspects of equity. Amaka Consulting and Evaluation Services, LLC, an external consulting agency, analyzed the results and provided recommendations for improvements.

The role of government assistance, housing, and employment on postpartum maternal health across income and race: a mixed methods study.

Background: Stressful large-scale events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters, impact birthing individuals' postpartum experiences and their mental health. Resultant changes in government assistance, housing, and employment may further exacerbate these impacts, with differences experienced by varying income levels and races. This study aimed to examine maternal depression and anxiety in postpartum individuals by income and race during a stressful large-scale event, and the mediating role of government assistance, housing, and employment.

Adverse Obstetric and Perinatal Outcomes Among Birthing People in Same-Sex and Different-Sex Relationships in Louisiana.

We investigated sexual orientation disparities in several obstetric and perinatal outcomes in Louisiana and examined whether these disparities differed among Black, Latine, and White populations. We analyzed cross-sectional vital records data on singleton live births in Louisiana (2016-2022). Same-sex relationships (SSR) vs.

Classifying Building Roof Damage Using High Resolution Imagery for Disaster Recovery.

Post-hurricane damage assessments are often costly and time-consuming. Remotely sensed data provides a complementary method of data collection that can be completed comparatively quickly and at relatively low cost. This study focuses on 15 Florida counties impacted by Hurricane Michael (2018), which had category 5 strength winds at landfall.

The risk of perinatal and cardiometabolic complications in pregnancies conceived by medically assisted reproduction.

Purpose: To examine the impact of medically assisted fertility treatments on the risk of developing perinatal and cardiometabolic complications during pregnancy and in-hospital deliveries.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using medical health records of deliveries occurring in 2016-2022 at a women's specialty hospital in a southern state of the Unites States (US). Pregnancies achieved using medically assisted reproductive (MAR) techniques were compared with unassisted pregnancies using propensity score matching (PSM), based on demographic, preexisting health, and reproductive factors.

Seminar: Scalable Preprocessing Tools for Exposomic Data Analysis.

Background: The exposome serves as a popular framework in which to study exposures from chemical and nonchemical stressors across the life course and the differing roles that these exposures can play in human health. As a result, data relevant to the exposome have been used as a resource in the quest to untangle complicated health trajectories and help connect the dots from exposures to adverse outcome pathways.

Objectives: The primary aim of this methods seminar is to clarify and review preprocessing techniques critical for accurate and effective external exposomic data analysis.

Neurodevelopmental assessment of normocephalic children born to Zika virus exposed and unexposed pregnant people.

Background: Studies examining the association between in utero Zika virus (ZIKV) exposure and child neurodevelopmental outcomes have produced varied results.

Methods: We aimed to assess neurodevelopmental outcomes among normocephalic children born from pregnant people enrolled in the Zika in Pregnancy in Honduras (ZIPH) cohort study, July-December 2016. Enrollment occurred during the first prenatal visit.

The association between preconception cannabis use and gestational diabetes mellitus: The Preconception Period Analysis of Risks and Exposures Influencing health and Development (PrePARED) consortium.

Background: The metabolic changes that ultimately lead to gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) likely begin before pregnancy. Cannabis use might increase the risk of GDM by increasing appetite or promoting fat deposition and adipogenesis.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the association between preconception cannabis use and GDM incidence.

Trends in Gestational Weight Gain in Louisiana, March 2019 to March 2022.

Importance: Average gestational weight gain (GWG) increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is not known whether this trend has continued.

Objective: To examine patterns of GWG during the COVID-19 pandemic by delivery and conception timing through the second year of the pandemic.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study is a retrospective review of birth certificate and delivery records from 2019 to 2022.

Untargeted metabolomics on first trimester serum implicates metabolic perturbations associated with BMI in development of hypertensive disorders: a discovery study.

Goal: Body mass index (BMI) in early pregnancy is a critical risk factor for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). The pathobiology of the interplay between BMI and HDP is not fully understood and represents the focus of this investigation.

Methods: BMI and 1st-trimester serum samples were obtained from the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth repository for 154 women (105 without HDP and 49 with HDP).

Trajectories of cardiovascular risk predict pregnancy outcomes: The Bogalusa Heart Study and the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.

Background: Life course patterns of change in risk-trajectories-affect health.

Objectives: To examine how trajectories of cardiovascular risk factors are associated with pregnancy and birth outcomes.

Methods: Data from two cohort studies participating in the International Childhood Cardiovascular Consortium-The Bogalusa Heart Study (BHS; started in 1973, N = 903 for this analysis) and the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (YFS; started in 1980, N = 499) were used.

Large-Scale Data Harmonization Across Prospective Studies.

The Preconception Period Analysis of Risks and Exposures Influencing Health and Development (PrePARED) Consortium creates a novel resource for addressing preconception health by merging data from numerous cohort studies. In this paper, we describe our data harmonization methods and results. Individual-level data from 12 prospective studies were pooled.

HABs Karenia brevis and Pseudo-nitzschia pre- and post-Hurricane Michael.

Increased occurrences of harmful algal blooms (HAB) in the Gulf of Mexico, and even worldwide, yield concern for increases in brevetoxin exposure leading to respiratory illness or even death, highlighting the need for extensive scientific research and human health monitoring. It is known that major events such as tropical storms and hurricanes are followed by periods of increased red tides caused by HABs; however, the nature by which phytoplankton blooms proliferate following major events remains a topic of great interest and research. The impact of Hurricane Michael on October 10, 2018 on HABs in the Florida panhandle was examined by analyzing data from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in coordination with Normalized Fluorescence Line Height (nFLH) data from the University of South Florida College of Marine Science.

Social distancing and mental health among pregnant women during the coronavirus pandemic.

Background: The effect of social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of pregnant women is of particular concern, given potential effects on physical health, family functioning, and child development.

Methods: Pregnant women were recruited for the "Implications of and Experiences Surrounding being Pregnant during the COVID-19 Pandemic" study at Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Participants enrolled at any point during their pregnancy and surveys were delivered weekly until the participant indicated that she had delivered her baby; a postpartum survey followed four weeks after delivery.

Health outcomes among offspring of US Coast Guard responders to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, 2010-2011.

Objective: To evaluate the potential for adverse health outcomes among infants born to US Coast Guard (USCG) responders to the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill disaster.

Methods: Department of Defense Birth and Infant Health Research programme data identified a cohort of singleton infants born 2010-2011 to USCG personnel in the DWH Oil Spill Coast Guard Cohort study. Infants were included if their military parent ('sponsor') responded to the oil spill during a selected reproductive exposure window (ie, 3 months preconception for male sponsors and periconception through pregnancy for female sponsors), or if their sponsor was a non-responder.

Remotely sensed measures of Hurricane Michael damage and adverse perinatal outcomes and access to prenatal care services in the Florida panhandle.

Background: Studies of effects of hurricanes on perinatal outcomes often rely on approximate measures of exposure. This study aims to use observed damage from aerial imagery to refine residential building damage estimates, evaluate the population changes post landfall, and assess the associations between the extent of residential building damage and adverse perinatal outcomes and access to prenatal care (PNC) services.  METHODS: Vital statistics data from the Florida Department of Health's Office of Vital Statistics were used to align maternal geocoded address data to high-resolution imagery (0.

Eviction as a social determinant of pregnancy health: County-level eviction rates and adverse birth outcomes in the United States.

Access to housing is an important manifestation of structural racism and discrimination, and birth outcomes show wide health disparities, but few studies have examined eviction and birth outcomes. This multilevel study merged data from the Eviction Lab on 2015 eviction judgements and records with the National Center for Health Statistics natality dataset. The analytic sample included 2,950,965 births across 5924 counties in 45 states.

Epigenetic signature of exposure to maternal infection in cord blood cells from uninfected newborns.

To assess the epigenetic effects of exposure to maternal infection. We performed an epigenome-wide association study to compare the DNA methylation patterns of umbilical cord blood cells from uninfected babies from chagasic and uninfected mothers. DNA methylation was measured using Infinium EPIC arrays.

Invited Commentary: Vaccines and Fertility-Why Worry?

In a recent issue of the Journal, Wesselink et al. (Am J Epidemiol. 2022;191(8):1383-1395) presented findings that indicate that the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine does not cause any reduction in fertility in either men or women, while COVID-19 infection may reduce fertility temporarily among men.

Understanding perinatal patient's health preferences and patient-provider relationships to prevent congenital syphilis in California and Louisiana.

Background: Congenital syphilis (CS) has reemerged as a global maternal and child health crisis. Kern County, California and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana are among the highest CS morbidity regions in the United States. We previously reported on social-ecological and structural barriers to prenatal care and maternal syphilis testing and treatment in these two regions.

Linking complex disease and exposure data-insights from an environmental and occupational health study.

The disparate measurement protocols used to collect study data are an intrinsic barrier to combining information from environmental health studies. Using standardized measurement protocols and data standards for environmental exposures addresses this gap by improving data collection quality and consistency. To assess the prevalence of environmental exposures in National Institutes of Health (NIH) public data repositories and resources and to assess the commonality of the data elements, we analyzed clinical measures and exposure assays by comparing the Caribbean Consortium for Research in Environmental and Occupational Health study with selected NIH environmental health resources and studies.

Hurricane Michael and Adverse Birth Outcomes in the Florida Panhandle: Analysis of Vital Statistics Data.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine birth outcomes in areas affected by Hurricane Michael.

Methods: Vital statistics data of 2017-2019 were obtained from the state of Florida. Births occurring in the year before and after the date of Hurricane Michael (October 7, 2018) were used.

Lifetime cardiovascular risk factors and maternal and offspring birth outcomes: Bogalusa Babies.

Both cardiovascular and reproductive complications may have origins in utero or in early life. Women in the Bogalusa Heart Study (n = 1401) had been linked to birth certificates for birthweight and gestational data, which were examined relative to childhood (ages 4-16) cardiometabolic indicators, indicated by mean levels overall and total risk factor burden as estimated by area under the curve (AUC) computed from longitudinal quadratic random-effects growth models. Women reported the birthweight and gestational age of each of their own pregnancies, and delivery medical records were linked to interview data where possible.