Thousands of babies in England are being born prematurely, smaller than expected or stillborn because of “alarming” and “devastating” socioeconomic and racial inequalities across the country, a landmark study has suggested.
Both are known risk factors for poor pregnancy outcomes. However, until now, little has been known about the scale of their “heartbreaking” impact on women and babies.
Now research involving more than 1m births suggests socioeconomic inequalities account for a quarter of all stillbirths, a fifth of preterm births, and a third of cases of foetal growth restriction (FGR), a condition in which babies are smaller than expected for their gestational age.
It’s poverty, not inequality. If the richer folk had the diets, living standards, air pollution etc of the poorer infant mortality would rise, not fall. If the poorer had those of the richer mortality would fall. It’s absolute values, not relative.
Pregnancy complications disproportionately affected Black and minority-ethnic women: 12% of all stillbirths, 1% of preterm births, and 17% of FGR cases were attributed to ethnic inequality.
Apart from chromosomal abnormalities or infection (which are not obviously caused by ‘racism’, but that won’t stop them) the most likely cause of foetal growth restriction is the pregnant mother smoking or drinking or taking drugs.
So why aren’t Black women doing more to protect their own children?
No hint of problematic consanguinity then? Only poverty?
Ethnic Minority. Illiterate morons.
If feral yobs didn’t keep shagging like rabbits every time they see a bit of crumpet, there wouldn’t be a problem would there!
Of course, BAME are one homogeneous blob, all of them having exactly the same problems as all the others, of which they share none with wypipo.
“Adjusting for ethnicity, maternal smoking and body mass index (BMI) substantially reduced these inequalities”
Ok don’t be fat, don’t smoke, what’s the ethnicity bit doing in there? Just left there as a “racism of the gaps” implication. But what actually are the differences between the comparator group? Don’t marry younger than the middle class english women? Get married? Don’t have more kids than them? Drink bucks fizz and be the designated driver for 8 months. Take folic acid?
Anything to do with the prevalence of marrying first cousins in certain communities?
Apologies, I only just saw decnine’s observation.
“born prematurely, smaller than expected or stillborn”
Any comparison made with what’s happening in these minorities home countries? If babies there are shooting out the womb and immediately performing 20 burpees before commencing a MBA course then they might be on to something.
“Thousands of babies!” Won’t someone think of the baybeeeeees!!!
Except I can’t help but notice that the article doesn’t say how many thousands. Two?
It just does proportions of problem births & those said to be attributed to “factors”.
In which case we don’t know whether this is a major disgrace of fucking trivial. Or the Guardian lying through its teeth as normal.
The Guardian doesn’t pay much mind to the babies who aren’t born at all.
The largest increases in excess risk of complications among the most socioeconomically disadvantaged Black and south Asian and women.
How do they compare to their co-ethnics back home though?
Oh, and in before: ‘ Trannies Worst Affected!’
@BiS Given the Official Numbers for the UK up to 2019, and a declining number anyway… Say 700.000 live births a year as a running average.
So a round thousand would be 0.00014% , actually less because stillbirths are obviously not live births..
So for 10.000 cases.. Still about 0.001%.
Not exactly odds that’d worry anyone but the most extreme hypochondriac. Let along finding enough actual data to make the bold claim in the article..
“Say 700.000 live births a year as a running average…
So for 10.000 cases.. Still about 0.001%.”
With around 225,000 abortions carried out in England, Wales and Scotland in 2020, if foetuses were asked, I doubt that the chance of being born underweight or premature was what was worrying them.
Bradford maternity units are interesting to scientists researching rare genetic defects, which can be quite common there. It’s the new ‘Normal for Norfolk’.
I once suggested that a report on systematic racism should adjust for demographics to give a clearer picture and you’d think I’d had suggested murdering puppies and kittens or cloning Hitler
With around 225,000 abortions carried out in England, Wales and Scotland in 2020, if foetuses were asked, I doubt that the chance of being born underweight or premature was what was worrying them.
Aren’t the majority of black babies aborted?
So Foetal Alcohol Syndrom is a socioeconomic inequality. The rich birds can afford medical grade heroin.