Analysis of preterm births in an ethnically diverse maternal population in the UK and the linkage to ethnicity and socio- economic deprivation

Background: Despite significant overall improvements in maternal and infant health over the past decades, ethnic minority mothers in the UK and their babies are at higher risk of adverse health outcomes and experiences compared to the White population. Preterm birth, defined as birth at less than 37 weeks of gestation, is a significant cause of ill health and mortality among babies in the UK as well as worldwide. Aim: This study explored geospatial patterns of preterm birth and investigated links between preterm birth, ethnicity and area deprivation using the Social Determinants of Health Framework. Methods: Statistical and geospatial analyses were conducted using routinely collected anonymous data of all live births over a 9 year period from 2007-2016 in a maternity unit catering to an ethnically diverse population. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and logistic regression were used as analytical techniques. Findings: Among 46307 births analysed, great majority (85.6%) of the mothers lived in neighbourhoods that were in the three most deprived areas. Two fifths (40.38%) of mothers belonged to an ethnic minority group. Maternal country of birth was recorded for 20557 births with 41.9% of mothers born abroad. There were a total of 3835 (8.3%) preterm births with 39.4% occurrences among ethnic minority mothers. Black Caribbean mothers had the highest proportions of preterm births. Compared to White British mothers, Pakistani and Bangladeshi mothers had significantly lower proportions of preterm births (p =.05). We did not find any significantly different pattern in preterm birth rates with respect to the combined effect of ethnicity and area deprivation. Conclusions: We found little evidence of the link between preterm births and ethnicity and social deprivation in this population.