American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
ResearchObstetricsRacial disparities in stillbirth risk across gestation in the United States
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
The sources of data were the NCHS Perinatal Mortality Data Files and the Birth Cohort Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Sets for 2001–2002 combined. We selected the following 36 states for analyses, because they met the criteria of ≥80% complete reporting for the specific data entry fields on Hispanic origin, method of delivery, and prenatal care history: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,
Results
Cumulative hazard of stillbirth at a gestation interval estimates the probability of having a stillbirth while in that given interval of pregnancy. The cumulative hazard for stillbirth/1000 pregnancies from 20–41 weeks' gestation was 22.07 for non-Hispanic blacks, 10.02 for non-Hispanic whites, and 10.58 for Hispanics. The stillbirth hazard was highest at 20–23 weeks' and 39–41 weeks' gestation (Figure). Increased hazard was observed at every gestation interval for blacks compared with the
Comment
This study examines the hazard of stillbirth using ongoing pregnancies as the comparison group, which provides a clinically relevant estimate of stillbirth risk at intervals in gestation.6 The risk of stillbirth is greatest at the beginning (20–23 weeks) and at the end (39–41 weeks) of gestation regardless of race/ethnicity, as has been previously described.7 Non-Hispanic black women have a 2.2-fold increased risk of stillbirth compared with non-Hispanic white women. We found that the
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Cite this article as: Willinger M, Ko C-W, Reddy UM. Racial disparities in stillbirth risk across gestation in the United States. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2009;201:469.e1-8.