Perceived Social Support and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Among Nulliparous Individuals article published in the American Journal of OBGYN Maternal-Fetal Medicine – Brock Polnaszek, MD, MPH

Dr. Polnaszek was selected to attend the 2024 National Institute of Health Women’s Health Across the Lifespan Workshop in Bethesda, Maryland, sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Office of Research on Women’s Health. He led a spin-off study which was recently published in AJOG-MFM using data from one of the largest pregnancy studies in the United States—the nuMoM2b (Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-to-Be)—which followed approximately 10,000 first-time pregnant individuals from early pregnancy through delivery. His research explored how a pregnant person’s perceived social support—how supported they feel by family, friends, and/or a partner—relates to adverse pregnancy outcomes like preterm birth. The findings showed that pregnant individuals who felt more supported during pregnancy generally experienced better outcomes. However, these differences were largely explained by broader social determinants of health, such as income and education. Dr. Polnaszek’s study is unique in that how supported an individual felt was broken down by the who was providing the support and how strongly supported an individual felt compared to those individuals without any sources of support. In other words: while support likely matters, it’s often part of a bigger picture—where other factors like poverty play a major role in shaping pregnancy health.

Read the full article: Perceived Social Support and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes Among Nulliparous Individuals