Sylvia Guendelman ^1*, Dorothy Thornton ¹, Jeffrey Gould ², Nap Hosang ³

¹ UC Berkeley
² Stanford University
³ University of California, Berkeley

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: sylviag{at}uclink.berkeley.edu.

	Abstract

Objectives. To assess maternal health disparities, we compared maternal morbidities during labor and delivery among Mexican-born and US-born White, non-Latina women residing in California.

Methods. This population-based study used linked hospital discharge and birth certificate data for 1996-1998 (862 723 deliveries). We calculated the frequency, and observed and adjusted odds ratios for obstetric complications. Covariates included maternal age, parity, education, prenatal care initiation and payment source, and hospital quality of care.

Results. Approximately 1 in 5 deliveries resulted in a obstetric complication. After control for covariates, Mexican-born women were significantly less likely to have 1 or more maternal morbidities than White, non-Latina women but more likely to have complications that reflect the quality of intrapartum care.

Conclusions. Maternal morbidities during labor and delivery are a substantial burden for women in California. The favorable overall outcome of Mexican-born women over US- born White, non-Latinas is surprising given their lower educational attainment, relative poverty, and greater barriers to health care access. The favorable outcomes obscure vulnerabilities in those complications that are sensitive to the quality of intrapartum care.

Key Words: Birth Outcomes, Pregnancy, Hispanics/Latinos, Women's Health