Differences in stillbirth and infant mortality by maternal country of birth and descent in Denmark

Abstract

Abstract International studies have reported inequalities in stillbirth and infant death among ethnic minority groups compared to the host population. The same tendencies have been reported in Denmark. We investigated differences in the risk of stillbirth and infant death among offspring of immigrants and descendants in Denmark, compared to the risk among women of Danish origin. The population-based register study included all live births and stillbirths with gestational age ≥ 22 weeks delivered by women of Danish origin, immigrant women and descendants in Denmark in the period 2005-2016. The study population was restricted to deliveries by women of Danish origin and country groups of immigrants and descendants with more than 2000 deliveries during the study period (n = 792 705). Logistic regression analysis adjusted for year of birth was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) of the association between maternal country of birth and country of descent and respectively stillbirth and infant mortality. Immigrant mothers from Turkey, Iraq, Somalia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran had a statistically significant elevated OR of stillbirth compared to women of Danish origin; adjusted OR`s ranging 1.45-2.93. Danish-born women with respectively Turkish (OR 1.44, 95 % CI 1.00-2.07) and Pakistani descent (OR 2.32, 95 % CI 1.50-3.60) had an increased risk of stillbirth similar to the one among immigrant women with the same origin. For infant death, we found increased OŔs among immigrant women from Turkey (OR 1.76, 95 % CI 1.28-2.40), Somalia (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.31-2.58), Lebanon (OR 1.63, 95 % CI 1.03-2.60) and Pakistan (OR 2.85, 95 % CI 2.05-3.96). Only women of Pakistani descent (2.22, 95 % CI 1.28-3.86) had a statistically significant increased risk of infant death. These findings show substantial differences in stillbirth and infant death according to maternal country of birth and descent in Denmark during the first decades of the 21st century.