Midwest Birth Outcomes and American Indian Pregnancy: Associations With Historical Trauma and Psychosocial Stress
Sanford Health
Summary
Indigenous American pregnancies in the Midwest have disproportionally high rates of adverse outcomes, however little research has been done on how historical trauma and stress may impact these adverse outcomes. This project gathers data from pregnant Indigenous American women on their experiences with historical trauma, stress, and birth outcomes, as well as physiological data of how they respond to stress, in order to better understand the associations between these factors and the biological mechanisms underlying them. Understanding the mechanisms by which both historical and proximal stress "get under the skin" and influence pregnancy health and perinatal outcomes, will afford new targets of intervention to help reduce these IA health disparities.
Description
As the U.S. Healthy People 2030 Objectives include reducing rates of infant mortality from 5.4 to 5.0 live births per 1000, and preterm births from 10.1% to 9.6%, Indigenous American (IA) women in the Midwest continue to experience disproportionately high rates of infant mortality (8.8 per 1000 live births) and preterm birth (12.8%). Identified risk factors, such as diet and access to healthcare, do not fully explain these persistent perinatal-health disparities. Therefore, studies have begun to focus on culturally-relevant psychosocial stressors such as historical trauma to try to understand…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- Female
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * At least 18 years old * Less than 26 weeks * Healthy single baby pregnancy * Indigenous American Exclusion Criteria: * Assistive reproductive technology (in-vitro fertilization) * Have a history of cardiac and endocrine disease
Locations (2)
- Sanford HealthFargo, North Dakota
- Sanford HealthSioux Falls, South Dakota