Related Experiment Videos
Disparities in pregnancy outcomes according to marital and cohabitation status
Zhong-Cheng Luo1, Russell Wilkins, Michael S Kramer
1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Objective:
To assess the risks and trends of adverse pregnancy outcomes among mothers in common-law unions versus traditional marriage relationships.
Methods:
We conducted a birth cohort-based study of all 720,586 births registered in Quebec for the years 1990 to 1997.
Results:
The proportion of births to common-law mothers more than doubled from 20% in 1990 to 44% in 1997. Preterm birth, low birth weight, small for gestational age, and neonatal and postneonatal mortality rates increased progressively from mothers legally married, to common-law unions, to lone mothers with father information, to lone mothers without father information on birth registrations. Adjusted odd ratios with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for common-law versus legally married mothers were 1.14 (95% CI 1.11, 1.17) for preterm birth, 1.21 (95% CI 1.18, 1.25) for low birth weight, 1.18 (95% CI 1.16, 1.20) for small for gestational age, 1.07 (95% 0.97, 1.19) for neonatal death, and 1.23 (95% CI 1.04, 1.44) for postneonatal death after controlled for observed individual- and community-level characteristics. The crude and adjusted odds ratios were virtually unchanged over time.
Conclusion:
Pregnancy outcomes are worse among mothers in common-law unions versus traditional marriage relationships but better than among mothers living alone. Modest disparities in pregnancy outcomes in common-law versus traditional marriage relationships have persisted despite the striking rise in common-law unions.
Level Of Evidence:
II-2
Related Concept Videos
Relationship Formation
Equivalent Couples
Two couples are considered to be equivalent if they produce the same rotational effect on a rigid body. In other words, the two couples have the same magnitude and act in the same direction, causing the same angular displacement or acceleration in the body.
For instance, consider two couples lying in the plane of the page, with one having a pair of equal...
Infertility in Females
Endometriosis, a condition characterized by abnormal growth of endometrial...
Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Applications of Life Tables
Close Relationships and Culture