Predictors of severe perineal lacerations in Chinese women
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Nadav Schwartz
Abstract
Objective: Chinese women have been shown to have a higher incidence of severe perineal laceration compared to other ethnic groups. We sought to test the hypothesis that this risk is related to body mass index (BMI) or to a relative fetal-maternal size disproportion as measured by the ratio of the newborn birthweight to maternal BMI (BW:BMI).
Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed using a pre-existing obstetric database. Third- and fourth-degree perineal lacerations served as the primary outcome of interest. Logistic regression was used to compare Chinese women to other ethnic groups and adjust for confounders.
Results: Three thousand and eighty-five singleton vaginal deliveries were identified, with BMI data available for 2281. Chinese women had a greater risk for severe perineal laceration compared to Caucasian (OR: 3.22; 95% CI: 0.73–14.32) and Hispanic women (OR: 2.88; 95% CI: 1.92–4.30). Multivariate analysis found that newborn birth weight plays a role (OR: 1.0012; 95% CI: 1.0007–1.0016), but BMI alone did not explain the discrepancy (P=0.89). However, the BW:BMI ratio appears to be a stronger predictor of laceration rate than either variable alone (OR: 1.011; 95% CI: 1.003–1.020).
Conclusion: The higher risk of severe perineal laceration in Chinese women compared to other ethnicities can be attributed, in part, to a relative fetal-maternal size disproportion.
©2009 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin New York
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- Congress Calender
- Congress Calendar
- WAPM-Newsletter 1/2009: Istanbul Declaration on following Ethics in Perinatal Medicine
- WAPM-Newsletter No 1/2009
Articles in the same Issue
- Selected articles from the 31st scientific meeting of the New York Perinatal Society on May 19, 2008
- Advanced maternal age as a sole indication for genetic amniocentesis; risk-benefit analysis based on a large database reflecting the current common practice
- Risks for common medical conditions experienced by former preterm infants during toddler years
- Predictors of severe perineal lacerations in Chinese women
- Maternal and neonatal outcomes in early glucose tolerance testing in an obstetric population in New York city
- Original articles – Obstetrics
- Prelabor rupture of membranes at term requiring labor induction – a feature of occult fetal cephalopelvic disproportion?
- Group B Streptococcus colonization in pregnancy: prevalence and prevention strategies of neonatal sepsis
- Preterm labor and bacterial vaginosis-associated bacteria among urban women
- Lipopolysaccharide binding protein in the early diagnosis of intraamniotic infection of pregnant women with premature rupture of the membranes
- Perinatal outcomes after second trimester detection of amniotic fluid viral genome in asymptomatic patients
- Is induced abortion a risk factor in subsequent pregnancy?
- An approach to the prediction of neonatal Erb palsy
- External cephalic version among women with a previous cesarean delivery: report on 36 cases and review of the literature
- Original articles – Fetus
- Reference range of fetal lung volume by 3D-ultrasonography using the rotational method (VOCAL)
- Sex differences in linear and complex fetal heart rate dynamics of normal and acidemic fetuses in the minutes preceding delivery
- Misidentification of maternal for fetal heart rate patterns after delivery of the first twin
- Original articles – Newborn
- Prevalence and risk factors for hypothermia on admission in Nigerian babies <72 h of age
- Influence of sociodemographic and psychosocial characteristics on breastfeeding duration of mothers attending breastfeeding support groups
- Congress Calender
- Congress Calendar
- WAPM-Newsletter 1/2009: Istanbul Declaration on following Ethics in Perinatal Medicine
- WAPM-Newsletter No 1/2009
