Incidence of fetal macrosomia and birth complications in Chinese immigrant women.

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 chi2 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.