Life Course Health Development

The life course perspective conceptualizes birth outcomes as the end product of not only the nine months of pregnancy but the entire life course of the mother before the pregnancy. Disparities in birth outcomes, therefore, are the consequences of both differential exposures during pregnancy and differential developmental trajectories across the life span.

Health develops throughout life as the product of the cumulative experience of multiple risks and protective factors, and most notably the time-specific influence of stimulus or insults during sensitive periods that link together to form pathways that constrain health potential. This health development model, called the Life Course Health Development framework, connects the dots from prenatal to late adult life, describes the pathways or health trajectories, and addresses the mechanisms that influence those health trajectories.

The Perinatal Network uses this framework to describe perinatal health in Monroe County because of its power to shed light on many of the seemingly intractable health issues in the community. African American and Latino babies are more likely to be born too early and too small than their white peers; they grow up to have more health and behavioral challenges; and as adults they experience more (and more severe) chronic diseases. These disparities persist across generations, even when socioeconomic status changes. Clearly, improving perinatal outcomes requires understanding the dynamics of these disparate health trajectories.

To learn more about the Life Course Health Development Framework, check The Health Status Report.