Long-Term and Multi-Generational Impacts of Skilled Birth Attendance

Meiping Sun () and Yiying Yang ()
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Meiping Sun: Shandong University of Finance and Economics
Yiying Yang: Fordham University

No 18719, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: This paper examines the long-term and multi-generational benefits of skilled birth attendance (SBA), which involves having a trained midwife or doctor present at delivery to safely perform normal deliveries using aseptic techniques and provide first-line emergency obstetric care. Using data on the county-by-county rollout of SBA in China from the 1930s to the 1970s, our research first demonstrates that the SBA reform substantially reduced neonatal mortality. We then show that exposure to skilled delivery during birth leads to a 1.5% increase in adult income. Moreover, we discovered that the benefits of exposure to SBA in previous generations extend to subsequent offspring. Children with at least one parent who experienced SBA have a 2.6% higher monthly income in adulthood than those whose parents did not have access to SBA. We also present evidence of several underlying mechanisms, including improved physical and mental health, better educational outcomes, and enhanced cognitive abilities. Our findings indicate that having skilled health professionals attend childbirths can result in significant long-term and multi-generational benefits.

Keywords: skilled birth attendance; adult earnings; human capital; health; public goods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H51 H75 I15 I18 J24 N35 O12 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-lma
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