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Sociodemographic characteristics of maternal presence in neonatal intensive care: an intersectional analysis

Journal of Perinatology volume 45, pages 1226–1232 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

Maternal presence in the Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) supports infant and maternal health, yet mothers face visitation challenges. Based on intersectionality theory, we hypothesized that mothers of Black infants with lower socioeconomic status (SES) living further from the hospital would demonstrate the lowest rates of maternal presence.

Study design

We extracted infant race, Medicaid status, and maternal home address from 238 infant medical charts. The primary outcome was rate of maternal presence. Generalized linear modeling and binomial regression were employed for analysis.

Results

Medicaid status was the strongest single predictor of lower rates of maternal presence. Having lower SES was associated with lower rates of maternal presence in mothers of white infants, and living at a distance from the hospital was associated with lower maternal presence in mothers of higher SES.

Conclusions

Interventions to support maternal presence in the NICU should address resource-related challenges experienced by mothers of lower SES.

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Fig. 1: Maternal presence by group.
Fig. 2: Significant two-way interactions.

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Data availability

De-identified dataset may be made available upon request to authors.

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Acknowledgements

This research was conducted with support and resources provided by Chris Wiesen, PhD at the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Funding

This research was funded by the Foundation for Physical Therapy Research, Promotion of Doctoral Studies Award (DM).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Health Sciences University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Dana B. McCarty

  2. Department of Maternal and Child Health, Gillings School of Global Public Health University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Dana B. McCarty, Renée M. Ferrari, Bharathi J. Zvara & Meghan E. Shanahan

  3. Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Shelley D. Golden

  4. Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Shelley D. Golden & Renée M. Ferrari

  5. Theological Studies Division, Duke Divinity School Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Wylin D. Wilson

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  1. Dana B. McCarty
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  2. Shelley D. Golden
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  3. Renée M. Ferrari
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  4. Bharathi J. Zvara
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  6. Meghan E. Shanahan
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Contributions

DM conceptualized and designed study, conducted and interpreted analyses, and drafted the manuscript; MS supervised all aspects of the research; MS, RF, SG, BZ, and WW contributed to the design of the study, interpretation of results, and contributed to manuscript revisions.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dana B. McCarty.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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All methods were performed in accordance with the Belmont Report of ethical principles for human subjects research. Approval was obtained from the UNC Office of Research Ethics and UNC Institutional Review Board (Reference ID 430343). Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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McCarty, D.B., Golden, S.D., Ferrari, R.M. et al. Sociodemographic characteristics of maternal presence in neonatal intensive care: an intersectional analysis. J Perinatol 45, 1226–1232 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-024-02175-z

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