Objectives: We assessed the longitudinal association between housing transitions and pregnancy outcomes in a sample of public housing residents.
Methods: A cohort of 2670 Black women residing in Atlanta, Georgia, housing projects with 1 birth occurring between 1994 and 2007 was created from maternally linked longitudinal birth files and followed for subsequent births. Traditional regression and marginal structural models adjusting for time-varying confounding estimated the risk of preterm low birth weight (LBW) or small for gestational age LBW by maternal housing transition patterns.
Results: Women moving from public to private housing as a result of housing project demolition were at elevated risk for preterm LBW (risk ratio = 1.74; 95% confidence interval = 1.00-3.04) compared with women not affected by project demolition. Other non-policy-related housing transition patterns were not associated with pregnancy outcomes.
Conclusions: Further longitudinal study of housing transitions among public housing residents is needed to better understand the relationship between housing, neighborhoods, housing policy, and perinatal outcomes.