Ethnic variation in causes of stillbirth
Data for six ethnic groups were available from the included studies.
These included African (n = 11 studies), Caucasian (n = 11
studies), Hispanic (n = 7 studies), Asian (n = 2 studies),
South Asian (n = 2 studies), and American Indian (n = 1
study) populations. Within the Australian context, data were also
available for the Indigenous population (n = 4 studies). The
pooled proportion of cases based on ethnicity for each mapped cause of
stillbirth is shown in Table S3. Pooled causes of stillbirth
for each ethnicity according to the maternal categories of ICD-10-PM are
presented as pooled estimates (95% confidence intervals) inFigure 2 with detailed results shown in Table 1 andTable S4. Pooled causes of stillbirth for Indigenous
Australians and non-Indigenous Australians are presented inTable S5 . Caucasian and Hispanic ethnicities showed similar
proportions attributable to various maternal causes in the ICD-PM
classification system (Figure 2). By comparison, African women had a
higher proportion of stillbirths caused by other complications of labour
and delivery (M3) and fewer due to complications of placenta, cord and
membranes (M1) compared to Caucasian and Hispanic women. Similarly,
compared to non-Indigenous Australians, Indigenous Australians had a
higher proportion of stillbirths caused by other complications of labour
and delivery (M3). Women of Asian and South Asian ethnicities had a
different profile of causes of stillbirth, with the majority of
stillbirths caused by complications of placenta, cord and membranes
(M1).