Beyond birth outcomes: the impacts of perinatal conditions on child development

This thesis investigates the impacts of perinatal conditions on children's health and development, focusing on two exposures in utero: ambient heat exposure and a temporary reduction in means-tested benefits. Existing research demonstrates that perinatal conditions can influence health at birth, as well as health, education, and employment in adulthood. However, less is known about how these processes manifest, if at all, in childhood. My thesis analyses the impacts of prenatal exposures on outcomes at birth and in childhood, through four empirical chapters. I use linked administrative data from the Northern Territory of Australia, which allows for longitudinal analysis. Chapter 2 investigates what drives seasonality in birth outcomes, identifying heat exposure as the primary driver. Chapter 3 examines which specific aspects of heat exposure matter most for health at birth. I find that prenatal exposure to both moderate and extreme heat affects newborns’ health. In Chapter 4, I find that prenatal exposure to extreme heat increases the risk of hospital admissions in early childhood and lowers test scores at ages 8, 10 and 12. In contrast to my findings in Chapter 3 on birth outcomes, I see little impact in childhood of moderate heat exposure. Chapter 5 analyses the impact of a reduction in means-tested benefits in pregnancy, finding that this led to increased hospital admissions in childhood. In contrast to the more general increase in admissions from heat exposure, the impact of the reduction in family income was driven by admissions for infections. Together, my analysis reveals that while the effects of various prenatal exposures may look similar at birth, their impacts in childhood are different. Furthermore, the effects I measure on health at birth do very little to explain or predict effects in childhood.