[Is There a Negative Night or Weekend Effect on the Child's Postnatal State Among Migrant Women?]

Is neonatal morbidity of women with a migration background (= a proxy variable for an increased risk of cultural/linguistic communication problems) increased in the sense of a "weekend effect"?

Data was collected at 3 Berlin maternity hospitals directly in the delivery room based on standardized interviews (questions on sociodemographics, care aspects, migration) and supplemented by maternal and clinical perinatal data. Surrogate markers for the child's morbidity were the Apgar score and umbilical cord pH value or transfer to a children's hospital. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were carried out.

The data sets of 2,014 1st-generation migrants, 771 2nd-generation migrants, and 2,564 women without a migrant background were included, including 39.7% so-called day-births (Monday - Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.). In 2 models, the influence of birth time and various other parameters was examined for the 2 proxy parameters of childhood morbidity. The chances of unfavorable Apgar or umbilical pH levels were increased in births in the evening, at night, on weekends and public holidays (OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.23-2.76, p=0.003), in operative vaginal births (OR 3.36, 95% CI 2.07-5.46, p<0.001) or a secondary cesarean section (OR 1.94; 95% CI 1.28-2.96, p=0.002). The migration status of the woman giving birth was irrelevant.

Despite possible intercultural and linguistic communication problems, women with a migration background are treated as well as pregnant women without a migration background irrespective of the time of day or day of the week.