Parental race/ethnicity and adverse birth outcomes in New York City: 2000-2010

Objectives. To examine the association of maternal race/ethnicity only and parental race/ethnicity jointly with adverse birth outcomes (low birth weight, small for gestational age, preterm birth, and infant mortality) among New York City women. Methods. We used Bureau of Vital Statistics, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene birth- and death-linked data from 2000 to 2010 (n = 984 807) to quantify the association of maternal race/ethnicity and parental race/ethnicity concordance or discordance with each outcome. Results. By maternal race/ethnicity, infants of non-Hispanic Black, Hispanic, and Asian women had risks of adverse birth outcomes between 10% and 210% greater than infants of non-Hispanic White women. Infants of non-Hispanic Black, Asian, and Hispanic couples exhibited higher risk of adverse birth outcomes than infants of non-Hispanic White couples. Moreover, parental racial/ethnic discordance was associated with an increased risk of adverse birth outcomes, with highest risks for pairings of Asian men with non- Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic women, and of Asian women with non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic men. Conclusions. Parental race/ethnicity discordance may add stress to women during pregnancy, affecting birth outcomes. Thus, parental race/ethnicity should be considered when examining such outcomes. © 2013 American Public Health Association.