Effect of the Washington Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) on pregnancy outcomes.
OBJECTIVE
We determined the effect of the Washington State Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) on adverse pregnancy outcomes.


METHODS
We used a record-linkage retrospective cohort design. We matched records of eligible women who enrolled in Washington WIC from 9/1/1999-12/31/2000 to records of their subsequent birth/fetal death from the Washington State Department of Health to determine their pregnancy outcome between 9/1/1999-10/15/2001 (N = 42,495). We selected comparison women from birth/fetal death records who were WIC-eligible but not on WIC (N = 30,751). We used unconditional logistic regression for analysis.


RESULTS
WIC was protective for preterm delivery depending on history of abortion and adequacy of prenatal care, being most protective for women with abortion and inadequate prenatal care (Odds ratio (OR) = 0.4; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.3-0.5). WIC was protective for low birth weight depending on women's cervical health, with most protection conferred to those with incompetent cervix (OR = 0.2; 95% CI = 0.1-0.6). WIC was protective for fetal death depending on women's education, being most protective to those with <12 years of education (OR = 0.2; 95% CI = 0.1-0.3).


CONCLUSIONS
WIC is protective for adverse pregnancy outcomes especially for high risk women.
El-Bastawissi
Amira Y
AY
Washington State Department of Health, Offices of Community Wellness & Prevention and Epidemiology, Tumwater, Washington, USA. amira.el-bastawissi@doh.wa.gov
Peters
Riley
R
Sasseen
Kristin
K
Bell
Tom
T
Manolopoulos
Rebecca
R
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005313:Fetal Death / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005522:Food Services / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D018566:Pregnancy, High-Risk; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D039401:Prenatal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011632:Public Assistance; D014861:Washington