The authors examines the impact of the WIC Program on birth outcomes. They found that rather than affecting average outcomes, WIC was more effective in reducing the probability of high-risk births, for example, very premature and low-birth weight babies. The potential benefits of the WIC Program can be realized by enhancing its focus on more disadvantaged mothers.
The goal of this study was to determine whether participation in the WIC Program was associated with improved maternal and infant health outcomes among homeless women in the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System. Compared with those not in the program, women enrolled in WIC were significantly more likely to have a higher body mass index, initiate breastfeeding after delivery, have prenatal care visits, have a longer gestational age, and have a higher infant birth weight.
This study explored the relationship between participation in the WIC Program and birth outcomes. The authors analyzed whether WIC participation increased the average birth weight and decreased the number of low-birth weight births. Based on the results, WIC initiation raised the average birth weight by 2 grams and raised it by 7 grams among infants born to mothers with low education levels.
These authors studied the effect of WIC on birth outcomes. Based on their findings, WIC showed no statistically significant effects for any of the following six outcomes: birth weight, prematurity, maternal report of the infant's health, small for gestational age, and placement in the neonatal intensive care unit.
This study assessed the effectiveness of a prenatal home visitation program in reducing adverse birth outcomes among socially disadvantaged pregnant women and adolescents. The risk of delivering a low-birth weight baby was significantly lower for the intervention group. The risk was further reduced for mothers who were exposed to the intervention at a gestational age of 24 weeks or fewer.
Using data sets from Florida about all births between 1997 and 2001, the authors analyzed the effects of prenatal nutrition and education services provided by WIC on birth outcomes. Based on their results, WIC participation had no effect on mean birth weight and gestational age, but substantially reduced the likelihood of adverse birth outcomes, including birth weights below 2,500 grams.
This study examines the existence and possible explanations for racial/ethnic disparities in preterm births, using a nationally representative sample of births. Race-stratified models indicated that maternal health complications and prenatal care adequacy offered the most potential to explain the remaining racial/ethnic disparities in preterm births.
This study utilized a large population-based birth registry to estimate the independent effect of county-level poverty on preterm birth risk. The researchers found that high county-level poverty was significantly associated with preterm birth risk.
This study examines the hypothesis that ; independent of other factors, being black increased the risk of extreme preterm birth and its frequency of recurrence at a similar gestational age. The study found that recurrent black preterm births occurred at increased frequency and at an earlier gestation age (median age: 31 weeks versus 33 weeks), when compared with white births.
The researchers identified psychosocial predictors of having low-birth weight infants among mothers enrolled in the Louisiana WIC Program. Among blacks, mothers with an eighth grade education or less had the highest risk of having underweight infants. Among whites, those who initiated prenatal care in the third trimester were most likely to have underweight infants.
