Background: Despite growing acceptance of the role of context in shaping perinatal risk, data on how neighborhood factors may identify high-risk obstetric patients is limited. In this study, we evaluated the effect of neighborhood deprivation and neighborhood racial composition on severe maternal morbidity (SMM) among persons delivered in a large public health system in Atlanta, Georgia.
Methods: We conducted a population cohort study using electronic medical record data on all deliveries at Grady Memorial Hospital during 2011-2020. Using residential zip codes, we calculated neighborhood deprivation index based on data from the US Census. We used log-binomial regression with generalized estimating equations to estimate crude and adjusted relative risks (aRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between tertile of neighborhood deprivation and SMM, adjusting for demographic, clinical, and neighborhood-level (racial composition, food desert, and transit access) covariates.
Results: Among 25,257 deliveries, 6.2% (1566) experienced SMM. Approximately 24.0%, 32.0%, and 44.0% of women lived in the lowest, middle, and highest tertile of neighborhood deprivation, respectively and 64.9% lived in a neighborhood with majority non-Hispanic Black residents. After adjustment, there was no association between neighborhood deprivation and SMM (aRR: 1.0 (0.8, 1.1)) or residence in a majority Black neighborhood and SMM (aRR:1.0 (0.9, 1.2)).
Conclusion: In this safety-net hospital, residence in a high deprivation or majority Black neighborhood did not predict SMM at or following delivery. Individual-level social determinants may better explain variation in risk, particularly in high-burden populations.
Keywords: Severe maternal morbidity; neighborhood; pregnancy; risk prediction; social determinants of health.