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Maternal Health and Pregnancy Exposure to Lead: A Case Study of Flint, Michigan
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Danagoulian, Shooshan |
| Copyright Year | 2019 |
| Abstract | The water contamination resulting from switching of water source in Flint, Michigan, exposed all the residents of the city to biological and chemical contaminants, including lead. This paper studies the impact of the water switch on maternal health following exposure during pregnancy. Using Michigan birth records for 2013-2015, we compare births in Flint after the water switch to those in other cities across the state. Our findings show evidence of maternal selection, as mothers are less educated and less likely to be enrolled in Medicaid, a 5 percentage point (pp) decline in first time mothers. We also estimate a change in pre-pregnancy maternal health: a 0.9 pp increase in diabetes, 0.5 pp decrease in hypertension, and 4.9 pp increase in previous cesarean section. During pregnancy, however, we find evidence of more proactive maternal behaviour, as they undertake 0.36 more prenatal visits, are more likely to quit smoking, have fewer infections, and are 2.8 pp less likely to develop gestational hypertension. At birth, we find that mothers are 19 pp less likely to initiate or intend to initiate breastfeeding, and gain 3.34 additional pounds in weight over the duration of pregnancy. We interpret these findings as evidence of increased maternal stress and wariness due to uncertainty of water quality in Flint during the contamination period. Our findings suggest that the effect of lead exposure on health is dominated by that of the stress associated with living in contaminated environment. 3 Preliminary Draft: Do Not Circulate |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://ashecon.confex.com/data/extendedabstract/ashecon/2019/Paper_7089_extendedabstract_3_0.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
