Maternal Residential Mobility Between Births: A California Statewide Study

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Perinatal Health
• Public Health

Background:

• Perinatal and pediatric health studies often analyze data from consecutive pregnancies.
• Maternal residential changes between births and their impact on epidemiological findings are understudied.
• Geographic-based measurements in research may be affected by maternal mobility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate patterns of maternal residential mobility between births.
• To identify sociodemographic and perinatal factors associated with maternal moving.
• To discuss the implications of maternal mobility for epidemiological research, particularly sibling comparison analyses.

Main Methods:

• Utilized geocoded maternal residential addresses from California livebirth records (2007-2015) for sibling pairs.
• Described moving patterns and estimated the risk ratio (RR) of maternal moving based on preceding birth factors.
• Assessed maternal social mobility by analyzing changes in neighborhood Social Vulnerability Index (SVI).

Main Results:

• Nearly half (49.8%) of mothers moved between births; 34.9% to a new ZIP code, 9.3% to a new county.
• Maternal moving was associated with younger age, smoking during pregnancy, minority race, lower education, nulliparity, and specific prenatal care/insurance types.
• Social mobility between births varied by maternal age, race/ethnicity, and education.

Conclusions:

• Maternal residential mobility between births is more prevalent in specific sociodemographic groups in California.
• Recommends incorporating residential change measurements in sibling studies.
• Highlights the need to assess impacts on statistical power, confounding, carry-over effects, and generalizability; further research is needed.