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Blacks Have a Greater Risk of Stillbirth Than Whites Following a Cesarean, and Higher Stillbirth Recurrence
Author(s) -
J A Thomas
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
perspectives on sexual and reproductive health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.818
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1931-2393
pISSN - 1538-6341
DOI - 10.1111/j.1931-2393.2006.tb00069.x
Subject(s) - citation , medicine , psychology , obstetrics , demography , sociology , computer science , library science
Women whose previous delivery had been by cesarean had a rate of stillbirth in their subsequent pregnancy similar to that of women who had had a vaginal delivery according to a longitudinal study of Missouri births. However black women had a higher rate of stillbirth than white women and blacks who had had a cesarean were more likely to have a stillbirth than were blacks who had delivered vaginally. A second study by the same team of researchers using the same data found that the rate of stillbirth in the second pregnancy was higher for those who had had a stillbirth than for those who had not. Blacks experienced a higher rate of recurrence of stillbirth than whites. The rate of cesarean deliveries in the United States has been increasing since 1996 and one in three births among black women are by cesarean which is the highest rate for any racial group. Blacks also have a greater risk of having stillbirths and the rising use of cesarean delivery may be disproportionately affecting this group. The Missouri cohort data set for the period 1978--1997 identifies and links newborns to their biological mothers. To assess the association between cesarean delivery and stillbirth in subsequent pregnancy the researchers examined the records of women who had had two consecutive singleton births at 20 or more weeks of gestation; infants with congenital abnormalities were excluded. A stillbirth was defined as intrauterine fetal death at a gestational age of 20 or more weeks. (excerpt)