Appendix Two The Incidence of Fetal Macrosomia and Birth Complications in Chinese Immigrant Women

1. Appendix Two The Incidence of Fetal Macrosomia and Birth Complications in Chinese Immigrant Women Susan Campbell Westerway, John Keogh, Rob Heard and Jonathan Morris University of Sydney, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Royal North Shore Hospital • Background • Chinese women constitute a significant proportion of antenatal patients at both the Royal North Shore & Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Hospitals.A large number of these women are referred for antenatal ultrasound during the third trimester of pregnancy for fetal size assessment due to clinical determination of small for dates. • The ultrasonic fetal growth charts used at major centres in Hong Kong and China differ significantly for some fetal parameters, such as abdominal circumference, when compared with the Australian charts. Could this size difference be real and so account for the smaller baby when compared with the Caucasian baby? • Hypothesis • Babies born to Chinese immigrant women are smaller than those born to Caucasian women. • Birth weights of babies of Chinese immigrant women are increasing. • The increasing rate of fetal macrosomia in babies born to Chinese immigrant women is associated with an increase in obstetric complications • Inclusion criteria • Single term births in 1992 or July 1999-June 2000 at either Royal North Shore (RNSH) or Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Hospital (HKH). • Chinese immigrant – born in Hong Kong, Taiwan or China. • Macrosomic baby defined as > 4000gms. • Post-partum haemorrhage defined as blood loss > 500mls • Methodology • 1992 was a year when Chinese births were of significant numbers at both RNSH & HKH for adequate statistical analysis. Data was abstracted from • computerised birth records of Northern Sydney Health obstetric database and • a search of handwritten birth registers - cross matched with medical records. 1999/2000 pph rate comparison Chinese immigrants weight comparison Chinese immigrant pph comparison 1992 Birth weight range comparisonTotal single births: Caucasian 1802 Chinese immigrant 179 • Results • Literature search failed to find any references to Chinese fetal macrosomia or Chinese pph. • The increase in birth weight of babies born to Chinese immigrant women from 1992 to 1999/2000 is significant at 0.02 (p<0.05) • Incidence of pph in Chinese women for both 1992 & 1999/2000 is highly significant at p<0.001 • pph rate for Chinese women is similar for parity 0 and parity 1+ • Discussion • Pph rate for babies > 3kg in the Chinese population is similar • to those for babies > 4kg in the Caucasian population. • Possible Causes: • herbal medicines containing anti-coagulants • genetic susceptibility • constitutional hypofibrinogenemia • Conclusion • The incidence of fetal macrosomia in Chinese immigrant woman is increasing. • The incidence of pph in Chinese women is significantly higher than Caucasians and increases with increasing birth weight. • Acknowledgements • Carolyn Smith - Senior nurse manager • Obstetric, Child, Adolescent and Family Health Services, Hornsby Ku-Ring-Gai Hospital • Catriona Andronicos - Data manager, OBSTET Database - NSAHS 1992 pph rate comparison 1999/2000 Birth weight range comparisonTotal single births Caucasian 2261 Chinese 255 228