UCLA

In the last decade, maternal and fetal health patterns have worsened in the United States. Within this context, Latina women are experiencing escalating stressors, including greater levels of discrimination and political victimization. Stressors can become embodied (or ‘get under the skin’) through psychological distress. When this occurs during pregnancy, stress embodiment can lead to disparities in birth outcomes through pathways that have yet to be elucidated. In order to study these intergenerational cycles of health disparities and how to interrupt them, I use a mixed-methods approach and offer a richer description of stress embodiment and cultural resilience. This dissertation utilizes an innovative confluence of anthropological frameworks and biomolecular techniques, drawing from three data sources (Mothers’ Cultural Experiences Project Waves 1 and 2, and the Supporting Mothers Project) and representing the experiences of almost 300 Latina women living in Southern California. Through qualitative interviewing, I explore the unique perinatal stressors of first-time mothers who are 1.5/2nd generation Mexican (Chapter 5). With quantitative modeling, I replicate the finding that discrimination impacts psychological distress during pregnancy (Chapter 4). I use state-of-the-art immunoaffinity assays from prenatal plasma samples to show how psychological distress in early-gestation relates to dampened levels of placental extracellular vesicles (Chapter 2). This reflects diminished levels of feto-placental communication and, potentially, a proximate explanation of the trends connecting stress and disproportionate rates of low birth weight and preterm birth. In seeking to interrupt health disparities, I assess social support as a major factor in resilience. Specifically, I take an intergenerational approach to show that grandmothers improve maternal psychological well-being and buffer stress during pregnancy (Chapters 3-4). By exploring allocare during the prenatal period, I contribute to the theoretical integration of cooperative breeding theory and the developmental origins of health and disease. Moreover, I qualitatively investigate the resilience women construct from their bicultural identities and the cultural barriers around asking for help (Chapter 5). Altogether, this dissertation offers a multifaceted exploration of perinatal health that contributes to health equity research by using a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to better understand the experiences of stress and resilience among Latina women.