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Ethnic differences in the impact of male fetal gender on the risk of spontaneous preterm birth

Journal of Perinatology volume 41, pages 2165–2172 (2021)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective

To study the impact of fetal gender on the risk of spontaneous preterm birth in various ethnicities.

Study design

National cohort study in which all singleton live births from 25+0 weeks onwards without congenital anomalies were included of African, Asian, and Mediterranean women (1999–2010). Our primary outcome measure was preterm birth before 37 weeks. Per ethnic group, male and female neonates were compared.

Result

In each ethnic group, male fetuses were at increased risk of preterm birth (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.63 for African, aOR 1.71 for Asian, and aOR 1.84 for Mediterranean males). The population-attributable risk of male gender on spontaneous preterm birth is lower in African women (3.9%) than in Asian (10.3%) and Mediterranean women (9.0%).

Conclusion

Male fetal gender is associated with spontaneous preterm birth in African, Asian, and Mediterranean women, but the total impact of ethnicity on spontaneous preterm birth rate is different.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all Dutch midwives, obstetricians, neonatologists, and other perinatal health care providers for the registration of perinatal information and PERINED (www.perined.nl) for permission (13.63) to use the registry data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Amsterdam UMC, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Myrthe J. C. S. Peelen, Brenda M. Kazemier, Anita C. J. Ravelli, Christianne J. M. de Groot, Joris A. M. van der Post, Marjolein Kok & Petra J. Hajenius

  2. Department of Medical Informatics, Amsterdam UMC, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    Anita C. J. Ravelli

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Ben W. J. Mol

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  1. Myrthe J. C. S. Peelen
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Contributions

M.P., B.K., C.dG., J.vdP., B.M., M.K. and P.H. conceived the idea for the study. M.P., B.K. and A.R. performed the data collection. B.K. and A.R. performed statistical analyses. M.P. and B.K. wrote the first draft. All authors interpreted the data, revised the article, and approved the final version.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Myrthe J. C. S. Peelen.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Mol is supported by a NHMRC Investigator grant (GNT1176437) and reports consultancy for ObsEva, Merck KGaA, iGenomix, and Guerbet. All other authors declare no competing interests.

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Peelen, M.J.C.S., Kazemier, B.M., Ravelli, A.C.J. et al. Ethnic differences in the impact of male fetal gender on the risk of spontaneous preterm birth. J Perinatol 41, 2165–2172 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-021-01024-7

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