Low birthweight and mortality in Australian Aboriginal babies at the Royal Darwin Hospital: A 15 year study

Gogna, NK; Smiley, Mary L.; Walker, Alan; Fullerton, Peter

doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.1986.tb02148.x

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 5 publications

(2 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Early studies viewed birthweight as a reliable indicator of Aboriginal neonatal health because it related to mortality risk and considered both intrauterine growth restriction and preterm birth [ 2 , 10 ]. It was suggested that Aboriginal women were shorter and had smaller babies than non-Aboriginal women but with less mortality at low birthweights [ 4 , 11 ]. Pure-descent Aboriginal babies were found to be lighter than babies with non-Aboriginal admixture but disagreement existed over whether this was due to preterm delivery alone or also due to fetal growth restriction [ 3 , 11 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pure-descent Aboriginal babies were found to be lighter than babies with non-Aboriginal admixture but disagreement existed over whether this was due to preterm delivery alone or also due to fetal growth restriction [ 3 , 11 ]. Limitations of early studies on Aboriginal health outcomes included small sample sizes, difficulties with determining gestational age, missing data, and minimal focus on urban areas [ 4 , 10 , 12 ]. Recent studies agree that preterm birth is the main driver of birthweight disparity [ 8 , 9 , 12 ] and gains in Aboriginal health would be better assessed using gestational age rather than birthweight.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior to the commencement of the 2008 Closing the Gap campaign, key determinants of Aboriginal birthweight were identified as malnutrition, remoteness, maternal cigarette smoking, limited antenatal care, genitourinary tract infections, and teenage pregnancy [ 2 – 4 ]. Over recent years Aboriginal lifestyles have been significantly influenced by urbanisation and the effects of government campaigns targeting Aboriginal wellbeing.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Pregnancy risk factors associated with birthweight of infants born to Australian Aboriginal women in an urban setting - a retrospective cohort study

Ford

Cade

Doyle

et al. 2018

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundA key focus of the Closing the Gap campaign is to reduce low birthweight in Aboriginal babies. Limited research exists on factors affecting Aboriginal birthweight in urban areas.MethodsRetrospective cohort analysis of 38,382 births (38,167 non-Aboriginal, 215 Aboriginal) at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne from January 2010 to December 2015. Aboriginal status was defined by mothers who identified themselves and their baby as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The aim was to examine the association of maternal health risk behaviours and obstetric complications with birthweight of infants born to Australian Aboriginal women birthing in an urban setting.ResultsAboriginal babies had a lower mean birthweight than non-Aboriginal babies (mean difference -290 g; 95% confidence interval [CI] -413, − 166 g), but when accounting for gestational age and sex there was little difference (mean difference 5 g; 95% CI -53, 6 g). Aboriginal babies were significantly more likely to be delivered preterm < 37 weeks (23.3% vs 7.9%, odds ratio [OR] 3.58; 95% CI 2.58, 4.95) and be of low birthweight < 2500 g (22.3% vs 6.7%, OR 4.03; 95% CI 2.90, 5.60) or very low birthweight < 1500 g (9.8% vs 1.8%, OR 5.81; 95% CI 3.67, 9.16).Aboriginal mothers were significantly more likely to be teenage mothers (9.8% vs 1.6%, OR 5.72; 95% CI 3.54, 9.24), smoke cigarettes throughout the pregnancy (53.8% vs 5.6%, OR 17.2; 95% CI 12.8, 23.0), and use drugs (26.5% vs 2.4%, OR 14.3; 95% CI 10.4, 19.6) during pregnancy, all of which were associated with lower birthweight. Aboriginal mothers were also more likely to have a mental health diagnosis (49.5% vs 18.8%, OR 3.77; 95% CI 2.86, 4.97), be overweight (59.9% vs 42.6%, OR 1.88; 95% CI 1.39, 2.56) and have diabetes (15.3% vs 7.3%, OR 2.31; 95% CI 1.59, 3.35) which were all associated with higher birthweight.ConclusionsAboriginal babies born in metropolitan Melbourne are more likely to be of low birthweight compared with non-Aboriginal babies, which in turn was related to higher rates of prematurity and not to being small for gestational age.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Pregnancy risk factors associated with birthweight of infants born to Australian Aboriginal women in an urban setting - a retrospective cohort study

Ford

Cade

Doyle

et al. 2018

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The contributions of preterm birth and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) cannot be ascertained, and have probably varied over time. In a retrospective study of 819 Aboriginal newborn babies at Royal Darwin Hospital from 1969 to 1983, 23.2% weighed less than 2.5 kg at birth, and the predominant cause of this low birthweight was considered to be IUGR 21 . A later prospective study from 1987 to 1991 of 570 Aboriginal infants born at the same hospital found that 13% weighed less than 2.5 kg at birth, 7% were premature, and fully 22.7% (of 502) were small for gestational age (< 10th percentile), which represents IUGR 22 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Birthweight and natural deaths in a remote Australian Aboriginal community

Hoy

Nicol

2010

Medical Journal of Australia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objectives: To describe associations between birthweight and infant, child and early adult mortality from natural causes in a remote Australian Aboriginal community against a background of rapidly changing mortality due to better health services. Design, participants and setting: Cohort study of 995 people with recorded birthweights who were born between 1956 and 1985 to an Aboriginal mother in a remote Australian Aboriginal community. Participants were followed through to the end of 2006. Main outcome measures: Rates of natural deaths of infants (aged 0 to < 1 year), children (aged 1 to < 15 years) and adults (aged 15 to < 37 years), compared by birth intervals (1956–1965, 1966–1975 and 1976–1985 for infants and children, and 1956–1962 and 1963–1969 for adults) and by birthweight. Results: Birthweights were low, but increased over time. Deaths among infants and children decreased dramatically over time, but deaths among adults did not. Lower birthweights were associated with higher mortality. Adjusted for birth interval, hazard ratios for deaths among infants, children and adults born at weights below their group birthweight medians were 2.30 (95% CI, 1.13–4.70), 1.78 (95% CI, 1.03–3.07) and 3.49 (95% CI, 1.50–8.09), respectively. The associations were significant individually for deaths associated with diarrhoea in infants, with cardiovascular and renal disease in adults, and marginally significant for deaths from pulmonary causes in children and adults. Conclusion: The striking improvements in infant and child survival over time must be applauded. We confirmed a predisposing effect of lower birthweights on deaths in infants and children, and showed, for the first time, an association between lower birthweights and deaths in adults. Together, these factors are probably contributing to the current epidemic of chronic disease in Aboriginal people, an effect that will persist for decades. Similar phenomena are probably operating in developing countries.

show abstract

“…Gogna et al . carried out a retrospective analysis of all births at the Royal Darwin Hospital from 1 January 1969 to 31 December 1983, dividing the births into weight categories and racial groups (Aboriginal vs. non‐Aboriginal) . The incidence of LBW in Aboriginal babies was 23% compared with 6% in non‐Aboriginal babies.…”

Section: Low Birthweight (Lbw) Infantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indigenous child health: Are we making progress?

Brewster

Morris

2014

J Paediatrics Child Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We identified 244 relevant articles pertinent to indigenous health (4% of the total) with a steady increase in number since 1995. Most Australian publications in the journal (with a small Indigenous population) have focussed on conditions such as malnutrition, diarrhoeal disease, iron deficiency, rheumatic fever, acute glomerulonephritis and respiratory and ear infections, and in settings where nearly all affected children are Indigenous. In contrast, New Zealand publications (with a large Maori and Pacific Islander population) have addressed important health issues affecting all children but emphasised the over-representation of Maori and Pacific Islanders. Publications in the journal are largely descriptive studies with relatively few systematic reviews and randomised trials. Our review attempts to cover the important Indigenous health issues in our region as represented by articles published in the Journal. The studies do document definite improvements in indigenous child health over the last 50 years.

show abstract

Low birthweight and mortality in Australian Aboriginal babies at the Royal Darwin Hospital: A 15 year study

Cited by 7 publications

References 5 publications

Pregnancy risk factors associated with birthweight of infants born to Australian Aboriginal women in an urban setting - a retrospective cohort study

Pregnancy risk factors associated with birthweight of infants born to Australian Aboriginal women in an urban setting - a retrospective cohort study

Birthweight and natural deaths in a remote Australian Aboriginal community

Indigenous child health: Are we making progress?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About