Birth outcomes of Koreans by birthplace of infants and their mothers, the United States versus Korea, 1995-2004

Abstract

The acculturation effect of immigrant women on birth outcomes varies by race. We examined birth outcomes of three groups of births for the period 1995-2004, USA births to the USA-born Korean mothers, USA births to the non-USA-born Korean mothers, and births in Korea. In singleton USA births to both Korean parents, average birth weight was 3,294 g for the USA-born Korean mothers and 3,323 g for the non-USA-born Korean mothers. However, this difference was not significant, once controlled for other maternal sociodemographic, obstetric and medical factors. Low birth weight and prematurity prevalence were not different by maternal nativity between these two singleton groups. Average birth weight of all births including multiplets in Korea was 3,270 g, compared to 3,297 g for all USA-born infants including multiplets and births either to both or one Korean parents. This difference might have reflected a significantly lower educational attainment of mothers in Korea compared to Korean mothers in the USA. Low birth weight rate was consistently lower in infants born in Korea compared to the USA-born, but this difference became less, 4.2% and 4.6% respectively by 2004. These observations suggest that in the USA acculturation effect of Korean immigrants on birth outcomes is negligible.

Keywords: Acculturation; Birth Weight; Infant, Low Birth Weight; Infant, Premature; Korean Infants; Maternal Nativity; United States.

Fig. 1

Selection of study populations for the Part I and Part II of the study.

Fig. 2

Birth outcomes of the USA-born Korean infants and infants born in Korea. The group includes both singletons and multiples and born to both or one Korean parents. VLBWR, very low birth weight rate; LBWR, low birth weight rate.

Fig. 3

Very low and low birth weight rates of the USA born infants by maternal race, 1995-2004. C/S American, Central/South American; Amer. Indian, American Indian; NH White, non-Hispanic White; NH Black, Non-Hispanic Black.