Maternal education and racial/ethnic disparities in nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex cesarean deliveries in the United States.

BACKGROUND: Racial and ethnic disparities in obstetrical and neonatal outcomes are prevalent in the United States. Such racial or ethnic disparities have also been documented in the prevalence of cesarean deliveries. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the impact of maternal education on racial or ethnic disparities in the prevalence of low-risk nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex cesarean deliveries in the United States. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention live births database (2016-2019). Nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex births from the following racial/ethnic groups were included: non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic Asian, and Hispanic. Pregnancies complicated by gestational or pregestational diabetes mellitus and hypertensive disorders were excluded. Data were analyzed on the basis of the level of maternal education (less than high school graduate, high school graduate, college graduate, and advanced degree). We compared the prevalence of cesarean deliveries among the different racial or ethnic groups within each education level using Pearson chi-square test with Bonferroni adjustment. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to assess the association between cesarean deliveries and maternal race/ethnicity, maternal education, and the interaction between maternal race or ethnicity and education level, while controlling for potential confounders. To demonstrate the effect of the interaction, separate logistic regression models with similar covariates were performed for each education level and for each race/ethnicity group. Statistical significance was determined as P<.05, and results were displayed as adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of cesarean deliveries during the study period was 23.4% (695,214 of 2,969,207 births). All racial or ethnic minority groups had higher rates of cesarean deliveries than non-Hispanic White women (non-Hispanic Black, 27.4%; non-Hispanic Asian, 25.6%; Hispanic, 23.0%; and non-Hispanic White, 22.4%; [P<.001 for all comparisons]). Similar racial or ethnic differences in cesarean delivery rates were detected among all education levels. Higher levels of education were associated with a lower likelihood of cesarean delivery (adjusted odds ratio, 0.88; [95% confidence interval, 0.87-0.89]) in women with advanced degrees than in women who did not graduate from high school. However, although maternal education was associated with a protective effect in non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Asian women (adjusted odds ratio, 0.83 [95% confidence interval, 0.81-0.85] and adjusted odds ratio, 0.81 [95% confidence interval, 0.77-0.86], respectively, for women with advanced degrees), it had a smaller protective effect in non-Hispanic Black women (adjusted odds ratio, 0.93 [95% confidence interval, 0.89-0.97]) and no protective effect in Hispanic women (adjusted odds ratio, 0.98 [95% confidence interval, 0.96-1.01]). CONCLUSION: We document a significant racial/ethnic disparity in the prevalence of low-risk nulliparous, term, singleton, vertex cesarean deliveries in the United States. Furthermore, our findings suggest that although a higher level of maternal education is associated with a lower likelihood of cesarean delivery, this protective effect varies among racial or ethnic groups. Further research is needed to investigate the underlying causes for this racial/ethnic disparity.

The Risk of Readmission after Early Postpartum Discharge during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether early postpartum discharge during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with a change in the odds of maternal postpartum readmissions. STUDY DESIGN: This is a retrospective analysis of uncomplicated postpartum low-risk women in seven obstetrical units within a large New York health system. We compared the rate of postpartum readmissions within 6 weeks of delivery between two groups: low-risk women who had early postpartum discharge as part of our protocol during the COVID-19 pandemic (April 1-June 15, 2020) and similar low-risk patients with routine postpartum discharge from the same study centers 1 year prior. Statistical analysis included the use of Wilcoxon's rank-sum and chi-squared tests, Nelson-Aalen cumulative hazard curves, and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 8,206 patients included, 4,038 (49.2%) were patients who had early postpartum discharge during the COVID-19 pandemic and 4,168 (50.8%) were patients with routine postpartum discharge prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rates of postpartum readmissions after vaginal delivery (1.0 vs. 0.9%; adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.39-1.45) and cesarean delivery (1.5 vs. 1.9%; adjusted OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.29-1.45) were similar between the two groups. Demographic risk factors for postpartum readmission included Medicaid insurance and obesity. CONCLUSION: Early postpartum discharge during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with no change in the odds of maternal postpartum readmissions after low-risk vaginal or cesarean deliveries. Early postpartum discharge for low-risk patients to shorten hospital length of stay should be considered in the face of public health crises. KEY POINTS: · Early postpartum discharge was not associated with an increase in odds of hospital readmissions after vaginal delivery.. · Early postpartum discharge was not associated with an increase in odds of hospital readmissions after cesarean delivery.. · Early postpartum discharge for low-risk patients should be considered during a public health crisis..

Race and ethnicity are among the predisposing factors for fetal malpresentation at term.

OBJECTIVE: Fetal malpresentation complicates approximately 3% to 4% of all term births. It requires special considerations for delivery and exposes the mother and neonate to obstetrical interventions and potential adverse outcomes, such as umbilical cord prolapse, head entrapment and birth trauma, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, cesarean delivery, and cesarean delivery-related complications. We set out to explore the maternal and fetal factors associated with noncephalic malpresentation at term, with specific interest on the impact of maternal race and ethnicity on fetal malpresentation. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Natality Live Birth database for the years from 2016 through 2018. All term, singleton deliveries for the following racial and ethnic groups were included: non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, Asian, and Hispanic. Race and ethnicity were assigned based on self-identification and individuals with >1 racial category were excluded from the analysis. Malpresentation was defined as a noncephalic presentation at term and included breech and transverse presentations. The malpresentation group included all noncephalic births and cephalic births that occurred following successful external cephalic version, whereas all other cephalic births served as controls. A multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to assess the rate of malpresentation, with adjustment for potential confounders including maternal age, race and ethnicity, parity, birthweight, fetal malformations, malformations of the central nervous system (CNS), and chromosomal anomalies. The results are displayed as adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Statistical significance was set at a P value of <.05. Institutional review board approval was not required because the de-identified data are publicly available through a data use agreement. RESULTS: There were 9,692,203 term, singleton births during the study period. The malpresentation group included 354,689 births (3.66% of the total). The Table shows the rate of malpresentation for various maternal and fetal factors. We found a substantial racial and ethnic disparity in the malpresentation rates. Non-Hispanic White women had the highest malpresentation risk, whereas non-Hispanic Black women had the lowest risk (3.93% vs 2.81%; aOR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.36-1.39). Hispanic and Asian women were also at increased risk for malpresentation when compared with non-Hispanic Black women (aOR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.29-1.32 and aOR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.10-1.14, respectively). In addition, several maternal and fetal conditions were noted to be associated with an increased risk for malpresentation at term, including older maternal age (aOR, 2.81; 95% CI, 2.74-2.88; for patients >40 years), nulliparity (aOR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.48-1.51), low birthweight (aOR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.77-1.83 for birthweight under 2500 g), and fetal malformations of the CNS and chromosomal anomalies (aOR, 3.53; 95% CI, 3.06-4.06 and aOR, 2.32; 95% CI, 2.05-2.63, respectively). CONCLUSION: Based on a large US population database, we identified several maternal, fetal, and racial and ethnic factors that are associated with an increased rate of noncephalic malpresentation at term. Specifically, fetal CNS malformations, congenital or chromosomal anomalies, advanced maternal age, low birthweight, and nulliparity are risk factors for noncephalic presentation. Interestingly, non-Hispanic White women have the highest risk for malpresentation, whereas non-Hispanic Black women have the lowest risk. Previous publications found that low birthweight, advanced maternal age, nulliparity, and congenital fetal malformations are risk factors for malpresentation.1-3 Nonetheless, the current data available on race and ethnicity are sporadic, with limited reports suggesting that sub-Saharan ethnicity is associated with a lower rate of malpresentation2 and that White race is associated with a higher rate.4 We present a large-scale, nationwide US-based study to confirm the racial and ethnic disparity regarding malpresentation in the United States. This may be explained by the known variation in the shape of the bony birth canal in different racial and ethnic groups and populations from different geographic locations.5 Further investigation is needed to explore the racial and ethnic disparity described.

Racial Disparity in Pregnancy Risks and Complications in the US: Temporal Changes during 2007-2018.

Maternal race and ethnicity have been associated with differences in pregnancy related morbidity and mortality. We aimed to evaluate the trends of several pregnancy risk factors/complications among different maternal racial/ethnic groups in the US between 2007 and 2018. Specifically, we used the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) natality files for these years to assess the trends of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), chronic hypertension (CH), diabetes mellitus (DM), advanced maternal age (AMA) and grand multiparity (GM) among non-Hispanic Whites, non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics. We find that the prevalence of all of these risk factors/complications increased significantly across all racial/ethnic groups from 2007 to 2018. In particular, Hispanic women exhibited the highest increase, followed by non-Hispanic Black women, in the prevalence of HDP, CH, DM and AMA. However, throughout the entire period, the overall prevalence remained highest among non-Hispanic Blacks for HDP, CH and GM, among Hispanics for DM, and among non-Hispanic Whites for AMA. Our results point to significant racial/ethnic differences in the overall prevalence, as well as the temporal changes in the prevalence, of these pregnancy risk factors/complications during the 2007-2018 period. These findings could potentially contribute to our understanding of the observed racial/ethnic differences in maternal morbidity and mortality.

Expanding the concept of the professional integrity of obstetrics during a public health emergency.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has placed great demands on many hospitals to maximize their capacity to care for affected patients. The requirement to reassign space has created challenges for obstetric services. We describe the nature of that challenge for an obstetric service in New York City. This experience raised an ethical challenge: whether it would be consistent with professional integrity to respond to a public health emergency with a plan for obstetric services that would create an increased risk of rare maternal mortality. We answered this question using the conceptual tools of professional ethics in obstetrics, especially the professional virtue of integrity. A public health emergency requires frameshifting from an individual-patient perspective to a population-based perspective. We show that an individual-patient-based, beneficence-based deliberative clinical judgment is not an adequate basis for organizational policy in response to a public health emergency. Instead, physicians, especially those in leadership positions, must frameshift to population-based clinical ethical judgment that focuses on reduction of mortality as much as possible in the entire population of patients served by a healthcare organization.