Noghanibehambari H, Bagheri H, Toranji M, Vu H, Tavassoli N. Womb to wisdom: Early-life exposure to midwifery laws and later-life disability.
Soc Sci Med 2025;
372:117973. [PMID:
40147339 DOI:
10.1016/j.socscimed.2025.117973]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 11/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2025] [Indexed: 03/29/2025]
Abstract
Previous research documented that midwifery service quality improvements lead to improving maternal and infants' health outcomes. However, little is known about its influence for later-life outcomes including disability. This paper explores the potential effects of early-life exposure to the establishment of midwifery laws across US states on later-life disability outcomes. Midwifery laws were enacted during the late 19th and early 20th century and required midwives to gain formal education and training to obtain a license in order to legally practice. We use decennial census data over the years 1970-2000 and implement a difference-in-difference method and show that being born in a reform state is associated with significant reductions in various measures of disability, including work disability, cognitive difficulty, ambulatory difficulty, self-care difficulty, and a proxy for severe mental health. We also find significant increases in education, socioeconomic scores, housing wealth, and income. We further discuss the policy implications of the results.
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