A GUIDE TO HEALTHY PREGNANCY MANAGING AILMENTS AND FINDING SOLUTIONS

A_Guide_to_Healthy_Pregnancy

PREGNANCY DISCOMFORT AND ITS RELATION TO SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS

Şeymanur Yıldırım

Central Hospital Ataşehir, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, İstanbul, Türkiye

Yıldırım Ş. Pregnancy Discomfort and Its Relation to Socioeconomic Status. Çetin A, ed. A Guide to Healthy Pregnancy: Managing Ailments And Finding Solutions. 1st ed. Ankara: Türkiye Klinikleri; 2025. p.123-130.

ABSTRACT

Socioeconomic level (SES) is a concept that determines the place of an individual or group in society according to its economic and social status. A person’s educational status, employment status, occupation and income status are among the determining factors for SES. SES variables are among the risk factors or etiology of many medical conditions. Low SES has been associated with conditions that negatively affect living conditions such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and cancer. SES factors can also be effective in pregnancy and childbirth processes. Although there are conflicting associations between SES and pregnancy outcomes in the literature, in general, low SES has been shown to have an association with adverse outcomes for mothers and children such as preterm birth, stillbirth, low birth weight, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), gestational hypertension and congenital anomalies. Higher rates of pregnancy complications and poorer birth outcomes associated with low educational attainment. Low-educated women are less likely to receive adequate antenatal care and their children are at increased risk of poor health. Low-income women have a higher risk of pre-eclampsia and GDM, while high-income women have an increased risk of caesarean section or perineal laceration. Occupation type is another critical factor; jobs that require physical strain and long hours of work increase the risk of pregnancy complications such as preterm delivery. Employment status and income level also have an impact on the health of mothers and children. Moreover, mediating factors such as SES differences, prenatal care, mental and physical comorbidities, access to health services, cultural and social variables also affect pregnancy outcomes. For example, adolescent pregnancies account for approximately 11% of all births worldwide. Adolescent pregnancies, in which factors associated with low SES such as poverty, inadequate prenatal care and lack of education are more common, are more likely to have adverse pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth, low birth weight and maternal mortality. SES varies across countries, cultures and health systems. The heterogeneity of SES, influenced by factors such as education, income and cultural background, makes it a critical area for further research, particularly on interventions to reduce health inequalities and improve maternal and fetal health outcomes

Keywords: Socioeconomic status; Health status disparities; Education; Prenatal care; Pregnancy

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