The consequences and costs of maternal substance abuse in New York City. A pooled time-series, cross-section analysis.

We use a pooled time-series cross-section of live births in New York City between 1980 and 1989 to investigate the dramatic rise in low birthweight, especially among Blacks, that occurred in the mid 1980s. After controlling for other risk factors, we estimate that the number of excess low birthweight births attributable to illicit substance abuse over this period ranged from approximately 1,482 to 3,359. The increase represents between 3.2 and 7.3% of all LBW over the period resulting in excess neonatal admission costs of between $18 and $41 million.