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Original research
Municipal social expenditures and maternal health disparities: a study of linked birth and hospitalisation records
  1. Felix M Muchomba1,
  2. Julien O Teitler2,
  3. Nancy E Reichman3
  1. 1 School of Social Work, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
  2. 2 School of Social Work, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
  3. 3 Department of Pediatrics, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Felix M Muchomba, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA; felix.muchomba{at}rutgers.edu

Abstract

Background Local government expenditures provide services and benefits that can affect health but the extent to which they are associated with narrowing or widening of racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health is unknown. We examined race/ethnicity-stratified and education-stratified associations between municipal social expenditures—those on housing, transportation, education, and other society-wide needs—and serious life-threatening maternal health conditions in a large US state.

Methods In this cross-sectional study, we used individual birth records for 1 003 974 births in the state of New Jersey from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2018 linked to individual maternal hospital discharge records and municipality-level characteristics for 564 municipalities. Severe maternal morbidity (SMM) was identified in the discharge records using a measure developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Associations between municipal-level social expenditures per capita and SMM were estimated using multilevel logistic models.

Results Residing in a municipality with higher social expenditures was associated with lower odds of SMM across all racial/ethnic groups and education levels. Overall, 1% higher annual social expenditures per capita was associated with 0.21% (95% CI −0.29 to –0.13) lower odds of SMM. The associations were greater for individuals with less than a high school education than for those in the other educational groups in both relative (lnOR −0.53; 95% CI −0.74 to –0.31) and absolute (β −0.013; 95% CI −0.019 to –0.008) terms.

Conclusion Municipal-level spending on social services is associated with narrowing socioeconomic disparities in SMM. Narrowing racial/ethnic disparities in maternal health will likely require intervening beyond the provision of services to addressing historical and ongoing structural factors.

  • MATERNAL HEALTH
  • POLICY
  • SOCIAL CLASS
  • Health inequalities

Data availability statement

Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Researchers interested in using birth and hospital discharge records are required to apply to the NJ Department of Health, and, if approved, sign a data use agreement.

https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2023-220558

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    Data availability statement

    Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Researchers interested in using birth and hospital discharge records are required to apply to the NJ Department of Health, and, if approved, sign a data use agreement.

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors FMM conceptualised and designed the study, analysed the data and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. JOT and NER conceptualised the study, contributed to study design and analysis, and revised the manuscript. FMM is guarantor for the overall content.

    • Funding Support for this research was provided by grant 77344 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Policies for Action program; award UL1TR003017 from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, a component of the National Institutes of Health; award U3DMD32755 from the US Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Service Administration; and grant 74260 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through its support of the Child Health Institute of New Jersey.

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    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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