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Substance use during pregnancy is associated with poor neonatal outcomes. Women incarcerated during pregnancy may have a history of substance use, and their babies may be at risk of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). This study examines the incidence of NAS and other outcomes in infants born to currently or formerly incarcerated women. Infants born between 1985 and 2011 in Western Australia were divided into three mutually exclusive groups: born to women incarcerated during pregnancy (n = 708); born within 9–24 months of the mother's release from prison (n = 651); and born to women who were never incarcerated (n = 17,712). The impact of the timing of incarceration during pregnancy was also examined. Neonatal outcomes (NAS, preterm birth, low birthweight, infant mortality and admission to special care nursery) were compared using logistic regression. Infants born to currently or recently incarcerated women had higher odds of all adverse outcomes than infants in the nonexposed group. Infants born to women incarcerated during the second or third trimester (but not the month of birth) had poorer outcomes than infants born to women incarcerated during the month of birth. The findings show that babies born to currently or formerly incarcerated women are equally likely to experience adverse neonatal outcomes. Enhanced maternal healthcare must be provided during incarceration and after release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence that children of incarcerated parents are at risk of poor developmental and educational outcomes. However, much of this evidence is limited by biased samples, as studies must rely on opt-in recruitment. Administrative data present an opportunity to overcome this challenge, as they capture information on all incarcerated individuals. This study used administrative data on convictions of the parents of 19,071 children aged 5-6 years in Western Australia. Records of parental convictions (starting from 1 year prior to the child's birth) were linked to children's scores on the Australian Early Development Census, which is a teacher-reported measure of children's physical, social, emotional, communicative, and cognitive development. Logistic regression models estimated the odds of children of convicted parents being developmentally vulnerable. Models were adjusted for child, parent, and neighborhood sociodemographic factors. Compared to children in the comparison group, children whose parent had either served a community order or been incarcerated were at risk of poor development across all developmental domains, even after adjusting for sociodemographic factors. Furthermore, children of incarcerated parents had higher odds of developmental vulnerability on multiple domains compared to children of parents who had served community orders only. The results suggest that, although children of convicted parents experience a higher incidence of sociodemographic risk, their parents' criminal activity constitutes an independent risk factor for their development. Intervention to support the early development of children of convicted parents is therefore essential, and should consider the family context.