Asian-white couples face distinct pregnancy risks, Stanfo...(through 2005. (During that time period ...),Health

Date:9/30/2008

through 2005. (During that time period, 5,575 white, 3,226 Asian and 868 Asian-white couples delivered babies at the hospital.) The team recorded the type of delivery - caesarean vs. vaginal - and examined perinatal outcomes including gestational diabetes, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm delivery and birth weight.

El-Sayed and his colleagues found, as noted in their paper, that Asian- white couples "represent a population with distinct perinatal risks that differ depending upon which parent is of Asian race."

More specifically, the researchers found that white mother/Asian father couples had the lowest rate (23 percent) of caesarean delivery, while Asian mother/white father couples had the highest rate (33.2 percent). Because birth weights between these two groups were similar, the researchers say the findings suggest that the average Asian woman's pelvis may be smaller than the average white woman's and less able to accommodate babies of a certain size. (Asian couples had babies with the lowest median birth weight, so caesarean delivery was less common among those women.)

It's important for clinicians to know which women may have an increased risk of caesarean delivery, so they can conduct proper counseling prior to childbirth, El-Sayed said.

El-Sayed and his colleagues also found that the incidence of gestational diabetes was lowest among white couples at 1.61 percent and highest among Asian couples at 5.73 percent - and just under 4 percent for Asian-white couples. These findings weren't altogether surprising: past studies have shown an increased risk of diabetes among Asian couples, which researchers attribute to an underlying genetic predisposition. But the interesting finding, El-Sayed said, was that the risk for interracial couples was about the same regardless of which parent was Asian.

Based on their findings, El-Sayed said cl
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Contact: Michelle Brandt mbrandt@stanford.edu 650-723-0272 Stanford University Medical Center Source:Eurekalert

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