Couples in which one of the partners is Asian and the other is white have distinct pregnancy-related outcomes when compared with white couples, according to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Reuters Health reports. The study, by researchers from Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the university’s School of Medicine, looked at 3,226 Asian couples, 5,575 white couples and 868 couples with a partner of each race who delivered at the hospital from 2000 to 2005 (Reuters Health, 10/1).

Among couples with a partner of each race, 4% of the women developed gestational diabetes, compared with 1.6% of women in white couples and 5.7% of Asian couples. Gestational diabetes is a “known risk factor” for Asian couples and “thought to be linked to a genetic predisposition,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Researchers found that couples with one Asian partner and one white partner had an increased risk for the disease regardless of which partner was Asian.

Researchers also found that 33% of Asian women who had a white partner had a caesarean, compared with 23% of couples where the woman was white and the man was Asian. The higher rate of c-sections “is thought to be linked to body type,” because Asian women tend to have smaller pelvises than white women, the Times reports (Roan, Los Angeles Times, 10/1).

Researchers said, “Our study demonstrates that interracial Asian-Caucasian couples represent a population with distinct perinatal risks, with differing risks depending upon which parent is of Asian race,” adding, “Further research into interracial couples may she[d] light onto the effects of genetics [versus] environment on perinatal outcomes” (Reuters Health, 10/1).

Opinion Piece
The results of the study show that “[w]hile it’s great to be colorblind at cocktail parties and at the ballot box, women and their doctors should be talking about race and ethnicity,” Deborah Kotz, senior editor for U.S. News & World Report, writes in the “On Women” blog, adding that “[m]ore research certainly is warranted.”

Kotz says that the findings on gestational diabetes are “intriguing,” noting that researchers are considering additional studies to determine whether pregnant Asian women should undergo earlier screenings for gestational diabetes than other pregnant women. She also notes research looking at differences in breast cancers among black women who are descendents from different parts of Africa.

Kotz writes, “Focusing on someone’s race or ethnicity, whether in politics or social settings, is widely frowned upon these days — a very good thing,” adding, “In medicine, though, your ethnic background can play a crucial role in determining certain health risks” (Kotz, “On Women,” U.S. News & World Report, 10/1).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Couples made up of one Asian and one white partner may face an increased risk of gestational diabetes and a higher risk of Caesarean delivery, say researchers at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the Stanford University School of Medicine.

In a study published in the October issue of theAmerican Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, researchers looked at data from white, Asian, and Asian-white couples who delivered at the Johnson Center for Pregnancy and Newborn Services at Packard Children’s from 2000 to 2005. During that time, 5,575 white, 3,226 Asian, and 868 Asian-white couples delivered babies at the hospital.

“There’s great heterogeneity in our country; there are people of many different races and backgrounds,” co-author Yasser El-Sayed, an obstetrician at Packard Children’s and an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the medical school, said in a Stanford news release. “Gaining better insight into the risks facing specific populations provides for better counseling and better prenatal care.”
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The researchers found that white mothers whose partners were Asian fathers had the lowest rate — 23 percent — of Caesarean delivery. Asian mother/white father couples, on the other hand, had the highest rate, with 33 percent of pregnancies resulting in Caesarean deliveries.

The reason for the discrepancy? The researchers say that since the birth weights between the two groups is similar, the increased rate of Caesarean deliveries among Asian mother/white couples may be because the average Asian woman’s pelvis is smaller than the average white woman’s pelvis. Therefore, Asian women may be less likely to be able to accommodate babies of a certain size.

The researchers also found that the rate of gestational diabetes was lowest among white couples (1.6 percent) and highest among Asian couples (5.7 percent). For Asian-white couples, the rate of gestational diabetes was just under 4 percent.

Previous studies have found an increased risk of diabetes among Asian couples, which has been attributed to genetics. The results of this study are particularly interesting, since the risk of gestational diabetes was about the same regardless of which person was Asian.

These findings are important for health-care professionals who are counseling women about their pregnancy risks, the researchers said.

“One has to factor in as many relevant variables as possible when you counsel a patient about pregnancy,” said El-Sayed. “We’ve shown in this paper that if you have an interracial couple, depending on which parent is of which race, there may be different relative risks of certain outcomes that could inform and enhance clinical management.”