Reproductive Health

“Objectives One in five US babies are Hispanic, and many Hispanics are recent immigrants.” [“Reproductive Health…”] Since there are more Hispanics within the US, to treat them medically in an efficient matter it is important to understand the “dynamics of birth.” The study compares reproductive health characteristics between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White (NHW) mothers and determines whether what characteristics of birth Hispanic mothers may endure and others may not. For the study, the birth weight, hospitalization records, prenatal care, postnatal care, and health of the baby are all observed for similarities and differences between Hispanic and Non Hispanic White mothers.

The study was not a case study, in which original research was performed; however, the study was a form of archival research that uses data that has already been collected in order to conduct a study. The study was performed using a state-based Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System from 2002 data to compare Hispanic and NHW mothers of live-born infants overall and in several states with the highest and lowest Hispanic birth increases during 1998–2002. The monitoring system was from a hospital and the data was collected from personal records. There were 5,104 Hispanics used in the study and 22,608 non Hispanic Whites used. To explain the data that they found, they conducted t-tests that would compare the risk ratios in the states with a high/low concentration of Hispanic births. T-tests are statistical hypothesis tests that are used to compare means between numbers to evaluate differences between different sets of data.

The study found that Hispanic mothers are generally “younger, of lower socioeconomic status, and less likely to receive early prenatal care than the NHW mothers.” Since the Hispanic mothers are of low socioeconomic status, they most likely do not have the funds necessary to receive prenatal care. It is also possible that in their culture, they do not feel the need to receive prenatal care. They were found to smoke and drink less which most likely resulted in them reporting less preterm labor and hypertension, high blood pressure, during pregnancy. Although they did have some benefits of pregnancy that non Hispanic White mothers did not, they were also found to be more at risk for developing Gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is diagnosed when diabetes first arises during pregnancy. When compared to states with smallest birth increases, Hispanics in states with the largest increases are more likely than NHWs to report healthy behavior, for example, continued breastfeeding and normal BMI. This could possibly be because there was a higher concentration of Hispanics within an area, which would influence the ease of labor/birth that Hispanic mothers experience. However, Hispanic mother in states with the largest increases are more likely to report late prenatal care, hospitalization during pregnancy, and low socioeconomic status. A lower risk of hypertension is reported only by Hispanics in states with small birth increases.

In conclusion, the study shows that reproductive health characteristics among Hispanic and NHW women differ, but more specifically that only Hispanic mothers in states with a small increase most resemble the characteristics of non Hispanic White mothers. The results found from the study could be used to understand more about the Hispanic population and to better estimate future population ratios.



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Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/j0nny_t/2237527609/

Article: Maternal & Child Health Journal; May2008, Vol. 12 Issue 3, p342-356, 15p, 6 Charts, 1 Graph