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Incidence of fetal macrosomia and birth complications in Chinese immigrant women
Author(s) -
Westerway Susan Campbell,
Keogh John,
Heard Rob,
Morris Jonathan
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1046/j.0004-8666.2003.00013.x
Subject(s) - medicine , incidence (geometry) , ethnic group , immigration , demography , fetal macrosomia , obstetrics , population , pregnancy , gestation , gestational diabetes , environmental health , physics , genetics , archaeology , sociology , biology , anthropology , optics , history
Objective: To compare rates of fetal macrosomia (birthweight >4000 g) and birth complications in both Chinese women immigrants and Caucasian women for two time periods: 1992 and 1999–2000. Population: Chinese women immigrants and Caucasian women attending the Royal North Shore Hospital and Hornsby Ku‐Ring‐Gai Hospital in Sydney's northern health region. Methods: Data used were extracted from the Northern Suburbs Area Health Service OBSTET database. Significance of trends were assessed using χ 2 test. Results: The results show a rise in macrosomic babies born to Chinese immigrants from 4% of total Chinese births in 1992 to 9.8% in 1999–2000 ( P = 0.02).There was no significant difference in the rate of macrosomia among Caucasian women with respective rates of 11 and 14% for the same periods. The incidence of post‐partum haemorrhage increased significantly in both Chinese immigrants and Caucasian women ( P < 0.001). Conclusion: Australia has a multicultural population and yet the normal ranges defined for many obstetric investigations do not adjust for ethnicity. The application of values derived from a Caucasian population to other ethnic populations may be inappropriate and conceal important pathologies.