Rates of cesarean section and perinatal outcome: stillbirths

Based on their yearly clinical statistics for 1983-1989, the cesarean section and stillbirth rates at National Maternity Hospital (Dublin), where the patients are generally white, and University Hospital (Newark), where the patients are predominantly black, were compared. After adjusting for confounding factors, such as unregistered mothers admitted subsequent to fetal demise, differing rates of < 2500 g births and lethal congenital defects, the overall rates of intrauterine fetal demise were identical. When analyzed according to birth weights, in all weight groups, the stillbirth rates were significantly lower in Newark than in Dublin. However, for every 1000 births, more < or = 2500 g fetuses died in utero in Newark than in Dublin. This trend was reversed in the > 2500 g group, where the respective rate at National Maternity Hospital exceeded that of University Hospital more than twice. The latter result largely derived from an almost 7-fold higher rate of intrapartum deaths in the > 2500 g weight group at National Maternity Hospital as compared to University Hospital. When projected against prevailing American statistics, which reflect a stillbirth rate about twice as high among blacks than among whites, the results suggest that the management patterns favored in Newark, including a relatively liberal cesarean section rate (17.5% versus 5.8%), affected the rate of in utero losses favorably.