States with abortion bans saw increase in infant mortality rates, study finds
A new study reveals that states with abortion bans experienced an increase in infant mortality rates.
Thestudy published in the medical journal JAMA noted that in 14 states that implemented complete or 6-week abortion bans after the Supreme Court Dobbs decision revoked the federal right to abortion, the fertility rate increased 1.7%, leading to roughly 1 additional birth for every 1,000 women of reproductive age.
RELATED: Abortion laws by state
By the numbers
Thestudy also found that with roughly 500 deaths than expected among nearly 22,000 additional births, the infant mortality rate for births linked to abortion bans – 24 deaths for every 1,000 births – was approximately four times higher than projected.
The estimated increases in infant mortality were larger for deaths based on congenital causes and among groups that had higher than average infant mortality rates at baseline, including Black infants and those in southern states.
Researchers used study data that included biannual counts of neonatal and infant deaths, and the corresponding total number of live births, from birth and death certificate data compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics for all 50 US states and the District of Columbia from January 2012 through December 2023.
The study noted that biannual counts of infant deaths and live births were separately pulled for four racial and ethnic groups (racial and ethnic data were acquired from the death certificate, which is identified by the next of kin, coroner, or other person who certified the death) for each state over the same period.
RELATED: Survey: 3 in 4 reproductive age women in the US think abortion should be legal
The primary outcome was the infant mortality rate, calculated as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births in each biannual period for each state over 12 years. Mortality rates were calculated overall and by race and ethnicity, timing of death and cause of death.
This study found that states that banned abortion had infant mortality rates higher than would have been expected without such bans. The largest estimated changes were observed among southern states and Black infants.
Researchers noted that their analysis found an estimated increase of 0.33 infant deaths per 1000 live births above expected in states that banned abortion.
What they're saying
The team shared that the results are consistent with clinician and media reports documenting denial of terminations for nonviable pregnancies, forcing pregnant women to overcome significant barriers to receive timely abortion care out of state or carry the pregnancy to term.According to the study, the increase in infant mortality rate due to noncongenital causes is less straightforward and needs more investigation.
Moreover, researchers explained that the study provides new evidence that infant deaths were higher than expected in states that enforced abortion bans after the bans were implemented.
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CNN
6 hours ago
- CNN
Fathers' mental health important for child development, study says
EDITOR'S NOTE: Sign up for CNN's Stress, But Less newsletter. Our six-part mindfulness guide will inform and inspire you to reduce stress while learning how to harness it. Mothers bear much of the burden for a child's healthy development, from pregnancy through their teen years. But a large, new study adds to the growing body of evidence saying fathers, too, are responsible for the types of development that help children grow physically, emotionally and cognitively. Fathers' mental distress is slightly associated with subpar child development, including cognitive, social-emotional, language and physical development, according to the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. The researchers defined mental distress as symptoms or a diagnosis of depression, anxiety, a mix of both or stress. The findings were especially true in the perinatal period, which spans from conception to two years postpartum. During this time, the developing fetus, infant then toddler is particularly sensitive to any mental distress parents, especially the mother, experience, according to the study. 'Men are at risk of increased mental distress during the transition to fatherhood, with prevalence rates among men during the perinatal period as high as 8% for clinical depression, 11% for anxiety, and 6% to 9% for elevated stress,' the authors wrote in the study. 'This represents the most comprehensive global review to date on the association between fathers' perinatal mental health and offspring development,' said Dr. Delyse Hutchinson, senior author of the study and associate professor in the SEED Lifespan Research Centre at Deakin University in Australia, via email. 'What stood out was the striking consistency in the trends observed in the results,' Hutchinson, a clinical psychologist, said. 'This highlights the importance of supporting fathers if we want to see better outcomes for families.' While previous studies have linked fathers' poor mental health with potential harms on their children's development, the results were limited by the number of forms of development they investigated or the strength of their results. In addition to expanding this kind of research beyond mother-child pairs, the authors also wanted to fill those research gaps. They analyzed ties between paternal depression, anxiety or stress and six types of child development: social-emotional, adaptive, cognitive, language, physical and motor development from birth to age 18. Factors of social-emotional development included a child's ability to form positive relationships with peers, act in ways that benefit others, have healthy relational attachment, self-soothe and have a healthy temperament. Adaptability referred to a child's ability to respond to change and manage daily needs. Cognitive development included the health of a child's executive function skills, decision-making, memory, attention, learning, IQ and academic performance. Physical development factors included preterm birth, gestational growth and childhood height, weight, stunting, abdominal pain and sleep health. Motor development referred to fine motor skills, which involve the use of small muscles for actions such as writing or buttoning, and gross motor skills. Those latter skills use larger muscles for movements including waving your arm, walking or chewing. The findings derive from 84 previous studies totaling thousands of father-child pairs. All studies had followed participants over time, with mental distress measured from pregnancy to two years post birth, Hutchinson said. The authors excluded studies with fathers who had a medical condition, took medication or consumed alcohol or other drugs. There was no evidence for links between paternal mental distress and adaptive and motor development, the study found. But there were negligible to small associations with the other developmental outcomes including social-emotional, cognitive, language and physical maturation. The largest impacts were in early childhood, then infancy, then middle childhood. The associations were also generally stronger for postnatal mental distress than preconception mental distress, 'suggesting that a father's mental state may exert a more direct influence on the developing child after birth,' the authors said. A father's mental distress may affect his sensitivity and responsiveness in interactions with his child and disrupt attachment security, Hutchinson said. 'The timing of this review is excellent,' wrote independent experts Dr. Craig Garfield, Dr. Clarissa Simon and Dr. John James Parker of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in a commentary on the study. 'Fathers spend more time than ever on childcare and are increasingly recognized as important contributors to family health and well-being.' The results affirm well-established evidence of the importance of supportive parenting on the well-being of children, said Dr. Arwa Nasir, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, via email. Nasir wasn't involved in the study. Research on the role that fathers play in the lives of their children is important,' Nasir added. 'I hope future research will also clarify all the important and wonderful ways that fathers can enrich and support the health and development of their children.' Though the idea of a father's well-being influencing his child could be a natural conclusion, one drawback of the study is its partial reliance on gray literature — unpublished research that, in this case, included doctoral theses and interviews with authors of published studies that met criteria but hadn't reported relevant data. Of the 674 associations found, 286 were from unpublished work. However, the authors of the new study said when they compared their findings based on published research with their results reliant on unpublished studies, the new associations remained similar for most categories of development. Additionally, while the study is 'well-designed,' it doesn't prove a causal relationship and lacks larger context, Nasir said. 'It could simply be that both fathers and children's emotional wellbeing are impacted by the same larger psychosocial factors and socioeconomic pressures, such as poverty, structural racism and health disparities,' Nasir explained. 'Presenting the association between fathers' mental health and children's health outcomes in isolation from the larger societal factors risks presenting the fathers as the cause of children's problems.' This interpretation can also be stigmatizing, Nasir added. 'If the goal is supporting optimal health and development of children, I believe our focus in research and action should be exploring ways that society can support parents through economic security, equity, and justice.' The study emphasizes the importance of assessing and treating the well-being of both parents during health care visits in the perinatal period, experts said. 'Borrowing from the decades-old strategy of perinatal maternal screening for (postpartum depression), clinicians, researchers, and policymakers can build on the existing maternal infrastructure to design father-tailored programs and policies that strive to improve the mental health of fathers and families,' Garfield, Simon and Parker wrote. Parents are the guardians of 'society's future generations,' Nasir added. 'Supporting the well-being of families should be a national priority.' But to receive help, fathers have to speak up and honestly answer questions about mental health concerns, they added. 'It's important for fathers to be aware that becoming a parent can be a challenging period, and that many fathers go through ups and downs during this time,' Hutchinson said. Seeking support early can make a difference, she added, and it's a strength, not a weakness. Fathers can talk with general physicians, therapists or providers at specialized pregnancy or postpartum clinics about mental health symptoms, Hutchinson said. Peer group support and online apps that use mindfulness and cognitive behavioral therapy to help manage moods can also be effective, she added. Even if your children are older, it's still never too late to prioritize your health, Hutchinson said. Every age and stage across child development is important, not just one period in time.
a day ago
Black dads go public with support for their kids with autism -- and each other
ATLANTA -- When Tyrone Green's youngest son was diagnosed with autism, his wife was immediately ready to get the 3-year-old the support he needed. But Green was stuck: He had questions about his son's future and an overwhelming feeling of loneliness — like no one, not his wife, not his friends, understood his experience. ' ... (M)y wife couldn't understand what I was going through as a Black father, all these hopes and dreams I had for my kid," said Green, who lives in Michigan. 'She didn't feel the same way.' In 2021, he joined a Black fathers' support group and met a few other dads eager to discuss their unique challenges. They started their own podcast in 2023 called AutisHIM, a place where Black dads talk about the wins and setbacks of having autistic children. Green is among a growing number of Black fathers of autistic children looking to be more visible in the national autism conversation through podcasts, nonprofits and summits that specifically address their experience. These men say that their hope is not only to be considered more than sidekicks to mothers of the children, but also to help other Black dads accept autism diagnoses and not prolong getting kids the help that they need. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects how people communicate, process information and interact with the world around them. Federal data shows that since 2020, Black children have had a higher prevalence of autism spectrum disorder than white children — a change experts credit mostly to better awareness of autism in underserved communities. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently announced plans to have the federal government do a broad study for the causes of autism, even though it's been looked at by researchers for decades. He has said autism is a 'tragedy' that 'destroys families' and that some people with autism will never hold a job, pay taxes or go on dates. But many people with autism live successful, socially rich and independent lives, which makes a narrative like Kennedy's dangerous, said Michael Hannon, a counseling professor at Montclair State University who studies the social and emotional aspects of autism on Black fatherhood. It 'can literally diminish hope for any father or father figure or family,' Hannon said of Kennedy's framing of autism. But affinity groups for Black men who have kids with autism are a successful way to get the dads to engage with their emotions, Hannon said. 'The challenge is convincing people to (talk openly and honestly), because the practice of doing that is rare, not just among Black men, but people in general,' he said, adding that people might think it will reflect on their ability to parent. Evan Polk said a big part of navigating his 13-year-old daughter's diagnosis was learning to sit with emotions that weren't simply 'happy and mad.' In the beginning, he was very protective. 'I became a helicopter dad,' said Polk, who started AuSome Kicks, an art therapy nonprofit for autistic children near Philadelphia earlier this year. 'I didn't want nobody or nothing to harm her whatsoever. When I found out she was autistic, she'd be outside with knee pads and elbow pads looking crazy.' He said he later taught his family to be more patient with his daughter, as opposed to traditional parenting styles of being firm and hoping that she would fall in line. Dr. Berry Pierre said he initially was on the sidelines of his autistic daughter's support team as his wife, Maria Davis-Pierre, did the bulk of advocating. The Florida couple founded Autism in Black and for the first five years, he said the organization didn't specifically tailor messaging to Black dads. 'Whether it be in schools, the (individual education plan) meetings, the mothers were just there.' Pierre said. 'But as we started to kind of try to go deeper and figure out 'Alright, what's going on? Where are the guys?' we started to realize that a lot of them will be there.' Many Black dads, Pierre found out, were equally involved as the moms, and Pierre wanted to get more of them talking publicly about autism. 'The dads are there, but we know the general public doesn't realize that yet,' Pierre said. 'So we try to serve as this engine to shine a light on what's really happening. The dads are there, they're attentive. And even with this diagnosis, they're going even harder.' Some dads, like Nicholas Love in North Carolina, said they first hesitated to openly share their journey of raising their kids with autism in fear that people may not understand. 'I was very guarded for a while in talking about my children both being on the spectrum,' said Love, who is CEO of the marketing agency The Kulur Group. 'Even in how you take pictures that you upload on social media, being cognizant and thinking about, 'Well is this a picture that looks, dare I say, the perception of what normal looks like?'" Now, he's an open book about them, is understanding when employees need a little extra time for urgent family needs and has advocated that men receive more paid leave so they will have time to be more involved with their kids. 'I got to a point where it's like, 'OK, this is my reality … I need to do my part in normalizing this," Love said. Green said that while his podcast and platforms like Autism in Black make it easier for Black fathers to share their stories of their kids' wins and losses, he'd like to see 'more support groups out there, more podcasts, more conversations.' 'I see a lot of Black women doing their thing and I highly appreciate that, but I think there definitely needs to be more conversations surrounding (Black fatherhood and autism) because, for myself, I'm a Black man," Green said. "I have a Black family, but this is never really the topic of discussion.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Getting in more steps may prevent the leading cause of disability in the US, study says
Sign up for CNN's Fitness, But Better newsletter series. Our seven-part guide will help you ease into a healthy routine, backed by experts. Getting your steps in is good for your health, but it may also help keep you from being affected by disability later, new research has found. Walking 100 minutes a day was associated with a 23% reduced risk of chronic low back pain, according to a study published Friday in the journal JAMA Network Open. 'This is an important finding because walking is a simple, low cost, and accessible activity that can be promoted widely to reduce the burden of low back pain,' said lead study author Rayane Haddadj, a doctoral candidate in the department of public health and nursing at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in an email. An estimated 600 million people worldwide experience low back pain, which is considered the leading cause of disability, said physiotherapist Dr. Natasha Pocovi, a postdoctoral research fellow in health sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney. She was not involved in the research. By 2050, the number of people with chronic low back pain is expected to grow to 843 million, according to the World Health Organization. And yet prevention of low back pain is often overlooked in research and clinical practice, Pocovi added. The results from this latest study show there is the possibility of using physical activity as prevention. Pocovi said the research also 'suggests that we don't need to complicate our exercise routines to protect ourselves against chronic low back pain.' To investigate the connection between walking and back pain prevention, the research team analyzed data from more than 11,000 participants age 20 and older from the Trøndelag Health, or HUNT, Study in Norway. Between 2017 and 2019, HUNT researchers asked study participants to wear accelerometers for seven days to track their walking patterns. The HUNT team then followed up from 2021 and 2023 and asked if participants experienced back pain, according to the new study. People were divided into four groups: those who walked less than 78 minutes in a day, 78 to 100 minutes, 101 to 124 minutes, and more than 125 minutes. The findings showed that as the amount of daily walking increased, the risk of chronic low back pain decreased, and preliminary evidence revealed moderate or brisk walking was more protective than a slow pace, Pocovi said. There are reasons to have confidence in the study results, including the large sample size and the use of accelerometers instead of people reporting their own levels of physical activity, she added. However, the walking data was only captured over one week, which might not be reflective of people's patterns over a month or year, Pocovi said. The study is also observational, which means that while it can show associations, researchers can't say for sure that the walking caused reduced risk of low back pain. Not only is low back pain a leading cause of disability –– it's also expensive. On average, people spend more than $30,000 on back pain-related costs over the five years after first diagnosis, according to an April 2024 study. Easy, inexpensive changes that prevent chronic low back pain can make a big difference, Haddadj said. The study wasn't able to address if walking 100 minutes straight had more, less or the same impact as accumulating that same amount of time in short bursts, Pocovi said. But in most cases, unless there is an underlying medical condition, any amount of walking is better than none, Pocovi said. 'Start with short walking sessions, either by planning specific walks or finding small ways to integrate a brief stroll into your daily routine,' she said. She likes to take stairs instead of the elevator or walk to a coffee shop a little farther from her home, Pocovi said. 'The key is to gradually increase your walking in a sustainable and enjoyable way,' she said in an email. 'Additionally, it can be helpful to have a friend, partner, or colleague join you for walks to keep yourself motivated and accountable.' You can add walking as a way to spend time with friends in addition to dinner and drinks, CNN fitness contributor Dana Santas, a certified strength and conditioning specialist and mind-body coach in professional sports, said in a previous article. And if you want to move past getting a couple of extra steps and get more physical activity, you can still start small and build your way up, Santas said. Some workouts can even be completed from the comfort of your couch while watching an episode of your favorite TV show, she added.
