(153) Impact of WIC Benefits on Neonatal Outcomes, stratified by BMI category, among Medicaid Participants

A retrospective cohort study was performed using 2012-2020 national vital statistics patient discharge data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The analysis was restricted to data from Medicaid recipients without pre-existing or gestational diabetes, who had non-anomalous, singleton births between 23 and 42 weeks. We compared pregnancy outcomes between those who did and did not receive WIC benefits, and further stratified by pre-pregnancy BMI category (underweight, healthy weight, overweight, and obese). Participants were excluded if they had missing WIC or BMI data. Outcomes of interest were preterm delivery (< 37 weeks) and NICU admission. We performed a multivariable logistic regression, controlling for race/ethnicity, age, education, prenatal care, and smoking.

Results: Of the 12,245,325 Medicaid recipients meeting inclusion criteria, 8,556,373 (69.87%) received WIC benefits. Compared to infants whose parents did not receive WIC benefits, infants whose parents did receive WIC benefits were less likely to be delivered preterm or be admitted to the NICU across all BMI categories (Figure 1). 

Conclusion:  Among Medicaid participants, WIC participation demonstrated a mildly inverse association with preterm delivery and NICU admission, with similar effects seen in all BMI categories. These results further support the body of evidence that WIC participation during pregnancy is associated with fewer adverse neonatal outcomes, and provide evidence that the benefit of WIC is seen across people of varying body size.