Table 1. Maternal Characteristics by Race and Ethnicity Among 45 588 Women Who Delivered Between January 2019 and November 2021 in the Mass General Brigham System.
| Characteristic | Race and ethnicity | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asian | Black | Hispanic | Othera | White, No. (%) | |||||
| No. (%) | P valueb | No. (%) | P valueb | No. (%) | P valueb | No. (%) | P valueb | ||
| Childbirths | 4735 (10.4) | NA | 3399 (7.5) | NA | 6950 (15.2) | NA | 1269 (2.8) | NA | 28 526 (62.6) |
| Age | |||||||||
| <18 | 2 (<0.1) | <.001 | 14 (0.4) | <.001 | 87 (1.3) | <.001 | 6 (0.5) | <.001 | 19 (0.1) |
| 18-24 | 102 (2.2) | 402 (11.8) | 1455 (20.9) | 140 (11.0) | 1028 (3.6) | ||||
| 25-34 | 2955 (62.4) | 1927 (56.7) | 3862 (55.6) | 720 (56.7) | 17 264 (60.5) | ||||
| 35-44 | 1652 (34.9) | 1029 (30.3) | 1533 (22.1) | 397 (31.3) | 10 082 (35.3) | ||||
| ≥45 | 24 (0.5) | 27 (0.8) | 13 (0.2) | 6 (0.5) | 133 (0.5) | ||||
| Marital status | |||||||||
| Single | 357 (7.5) | <.001 | 1622 (47.7) | <.001 | 3243 (46.7) | <.001 | 281 (22.1) | <.001 | 3913 (13.7) |
| Married or life partner | 4334 (91.5) | 1677 (49.3) | 3453 (49.7) | 945 (74.5) | 24 190 (84.8) | ||||
| Other | 44 (0.9) | 100 (2.9) | 254 (3.7) | 43 (3.4) | 423 (1.5) | ||||
| PNC attendance | |||||||||
| Delayed PNC | 1325 (28.1) | .25 | 1567 (46.3) | <.001 | 2983 (43.1) | <.001 | 430 (34.0) | <.001 | 7742 (27.2) |
| Timely PNC | 3398 (71.9) | 1817 (53.7) | 3942 (56.9) | 835 (66.0) | 20 676 (72.8) | ||||
| GA at delivery, wk | |||||||||
| <28 | 9 (0.2) | .46 | 30 (0.9) | <.001 | 28 (0.4) | <.001 | 0 | .04 | 55 (0.2) |
| 28-36 | 307 (6.5) | 341 (10.1) | 597 (8.7) | 107 (8.5) | 1991 (7.0) | ||||
| ≥37 | 4387 (93.3) | 2989 (89.0) | 6271 (90.9) | 1154 (91.5) | 26 275 (92.8) | ||||
| Delivery mode | |||||||||
| Natural vaginal | 3157 (66.7) | .03 | 2056 (60.5) | <.001 | 4642 (66.8) | <.001 | 811 (63.9) | .03 | 18 873 (66.2) |
| Cesarean | 1466 (31.0) | 1244 (36.6) | 2115 (30.4) | 432 (34.0) | 8978 (31.5) | ||||
| VBAC | 104 (2.2) | 95 (2.8) | 188 (2.7) | 26 (2.0) | 550 (1.9) | ||||
| Other | 8 (0.2) | 4 (0.1) | 4 (0.1) | 0 | 121 (0.4) | ||||
| Severe maternal morbidityc | |||||||||
| Positive | 53 (1.1) | .45 | 88 (2.6) | <.001 | 101 (1.5) | <.001 | 15 (1.2) | .52 | 285 (1.0) |
| Negative | 4682 (98.9) | 3311 (97.4) | 6849 (98.5) | 1254 (98.8) | 28 241 (99.0) | ||||
| Diabetes | |||||||||
| Positive | 811 (17.1) | <.001 | 462 (13.6) | <.001 | 710 (10.2) | <.001 | 138 (10.9) | <.001 | 2142 (7.5) |
| Negative | 3924 (82.9) | 2937 (86.4) | 6240 (89.8) | 1131 (89.1) | 26 384 (92.5) | ||||
| Hypertension | |||||||||
| Positive | 302 (6.4) | <.001 | 525 (15.4) | <.001 | 709 (10.2) | <.001 | 129 (10.2) | .02 | 3551 (12.4) |
| Negative | 4433 (93.6) | 2874 (84.6) | 6241 (89.8) | 1140 (89.8) | 24 975 (87.6) | ||||
| Depression | |||||||||
| Positive | 98 (2.1) | <.001 | 162 (4.8) | <.001 | 381 (5.5) | <.001 | 84 (6.6) | .03 | 2379 (8.3) |
| Negative | 4637 (97.9) | 3237 (95.2) | 6569 (94.5) | 1185 (93.4) | 26 147 (91.7) | ||||
| Smoking | |||||||||
| Positive | 8 (0.2) | <.001 | 40 (1.2) | .55 | 61 (0.9) | .004 | 15 (1.2) | .72 | 371 (1.3) |
| Negative | 4727 (99.8) | 3359 (98.8) | 6889 (99.1) | 1254 (98.8) | 28 155 (98.7) | ||||
| County-level social vulnerability, quartiled | |||||||||
| Bottom | 35 (0.7) | <.001 | 40 (1.2) | <.001 | 146 (2.1) | <.001 | 20 (1.6) | .001 | 516 (1.8) |
| Second | 1228 (26.0) | 1820 (53.6) | 4209 (60.6) | 429 (34.0) | 8465 (29.7) | ||||
| Third | 256 (5.4) | 73 (2.2) | 149 (2.1) | 38 (3.0) | 1313 (4.6) | ||||
| Top | 3205 (67.8) | 1461 (43.0) | 2442 (35.2) | 776 (61.4) | 18 183 (63.9) | ||||
| Hospital | |||||||||
| BWH | 1782 (37.6) | <.001 | 2022 (59.5) | <.001 | 2944 (42.4) | <.001 | 493 (38.8) | <.001 | 9766 (34.2) |
| CDH | 93 (2.0) | 37 (1.1) | 217 (3.1) | 53 (4.2) | 1116 (3.9) | ||||
| MGH | 1167 (24.6) | 673 (19.8) | 1830 (26.3) | 343 (27.0) | 5687 (19.9) | ||||
| MVH | 5 (0.1) | 32 (0.9) | 8 (0.1) | 68 (5.4) | 291 (1.0) | ||||
| NCH | 4 (0.1) | 24 (0.7) | 95 (1.4) | 18 (1.4) | 200 (0.7) | ||||
| NWH | 1409 (29.8) | 379 (11.2) | 518 (7.5) | 182 (14.3) | 7561 (26.5) | ||||
| SLM | 169 (3.6) | 195 (5.7) | 1261 (18.1) | 66 (5.2) | 1375 (4.8) | ||||
| WDH | 105 (2.2) | 37 (1.1) | 74 (1.1) | 46 (3.6) | 2518 (8.8) | ||||
Abbreviations: BWH, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; CDH, Cooley Dickinson Hospital; GA, gestational age; MGH, Massachusetts General Hospital; MVH, Martha’s Vineyard Hospital; NA, not applicable; NCH, Nantucket Cottage Hospital; NWH, Newton-Wellesley Hospital; PNC, prenatal care; SLM, Salem Hospital; VBAC, vaginal birth after cesarean; WDH, Wentworth Douglass Hospital.
Other racial groups include American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and multiple races.
Differences in maternal characteristics across race groups were calculated with χ2 tests, with non-Hispanic White as the reference group.
Severe maternal morbidity was identified with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list of 21 indicators, including acute myocardial infarction, aneurysm, acute kidney failure, adult respiratory distress syndrome, amniotic fluid embolism, cardiac arrest or ventricular fibrillation, conversion of cardiac rhythm, disseminated intravascular coagulation, eclampsia, heart failure or arrest during surgery or procedure, puerperal cerebrovascular disorders, pulmonary edema or acute heart failure, severe anesthesia complications, sepsis, shock, sickle cell disease with crisis, air and thrombotic embolism, blood products transfusion, hysterectomy, temporary tracheostomy, and ventilation.
Social vulnerability was indicated by the social vulnerability index and was categorized into quartiles. Higher quartile indicates greater vulnerability.