ABSTRACT
Objective: The study aimed to evaluate maternal race as a risk factor for the following pregnancy outcomes: ICU admission, Cesarean Delivery (CD), and maternal transfusion. Study Design: The study analyzed 15.4 million births in the US from 2016-2019 using natality data provided by the CDC. Data from 2020-2021 was not included in the analysis to eliminate confounding factors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to calculate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals using SPSS© for ICU admission, CD, and maternal transfusion across different races. Result(s): When accounting for CD history, the number of previous CDs, gestational and pre-pregnancy hypertension, gestational and pre-pregnancy diabetes, unplanned hysterectomy, and a ruptured uterus, maternal race remained a statistically significant risk factor for ICU admission (p < 0.001) in the multivariate analysis. After normalizing to White race, Asian and Black populations had aORs of 1.478 and 1.501 for ICU admission, respectively. While Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island (NHOPI) and American Indian and Native American (AINA) mothers had the highest aORs of 2.612 and 1.501, they represented a small of births in the US (Table 1, Table 2). Accounting for previous CDs, the number of previous CDs, and BMI, the multivariate analysis of CD and maternal race demonstrated that the Asian population had a higher aOR of 1.304 relative to the White population. In addition, Black race has an aOR of 1.211 for maternal transfusion and AINA and NHOPI have aORs of 2.714 and 1.624, respectively (Table 2). Conclusion(s): The study's findings suggest that maternal race may impact the risk of ICU admission, CD, and maternal transfusion. Notably, Black, Asian, NHOPI, and AINA populations are particularly at increased risk for ICU admission. These results warrant further studies to identify underlying causes of the disparity in pregnancy outcomes across different races. [Formula presented] [Formula presented] Copyright © 2022