Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25481783›Full record

ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2014

Ethnic variation in stillbirth risk and the role of maternal obesity: analysis of routine data from a London maternity unit.

Nicole Penn, Eugene Oteng-Ntim, Laura L Oakley, Pat Doyle

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Effects of maternal anthropometrics on pregnancy outcomes in South Asian women: a systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2018
    Pooled it
  4. Observational
  5. Disparities in Stillbirths in England: Analysis of A Population-Based Study of 1.3 Million Births.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2025
    Observational
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Observational
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Nicole PennKing's College London School of Medicine, Capital House, King's College, London, SE1 3QD, UK. nicolepenn90@gmail.com.
Eugene Oteng-NtimGuy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7EH, UK. Eugene.Oteng-Ntim@gstt.nhs.uk.
Laura L OakleyDepartment of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK. laura.oakley@lshtm.ac.uk.
Pat DoyleDepartment of Non-communicable Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK. pat.doyle@lshtm.ac.uk.
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBGuy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust · GBKing's College School · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundApproximately 5 in 1,000 deliveries in England and Wales result in stillbirth, with little improvement in figures over the last few decades. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between clinical and socio-demographic factors and stillbirth, with a particular focus on ethnicity and obesity.

methodsAnalysis of routine maternity data on 53,293 singleton births occurring in a large London teaching hospital between 2004 and 2012. Logistic regression was used to investigate risk factors for stillbirth and to explore potential effect modification.

results53,293 deliveries occurred during the time period, of which 329 resulted in a stillbirth (6.2 per 1,000 births). Compared to White women, non-White ethnicity was associated with a doubling of the odds of stillbirth (aOR for Black women 2.15, 95% CI 1.56-2.97; aOR for South Asian women 2.33, 95% CI 1.42-3.83). Obese women had a trend towards higher odds of stillbirth compared to women of recommended BMI (aOR 1.38, 95% CI 0.98-1.96), though this was not significant (p 0.07). Both higher parity (≥2 compared to para 1) and hypertension were associated with a higher odds of stillbirth (parity ≥2 aOR 1.65, 95% CI 1.13-2.39; hypertension aOR 1.84, 95% CI 1.22-2.78) but there was no evidence that area deprivation or maternal age were independently associated with stillbirth in this population. There was some evidence of effect modification between ethnicity and obesity (p value for interaction 0.06), with obesity a particularly strong risk factor for stillbirth in South Asian women (aOR 4.64, 95% CI 1.84-11.70).

conclusionsThere was a high prevalence of stillbirth in this multi-ethnic urban population. The increased risk of stillbirth observed in non-White women remains after adjusting for other factors. Our finding of possible effect modification between ethnicity and obesity suggests that further research should be conducted in order to improve understanding of the interplay between ethnicity, obesity and stillbirth.

Indexed as

AdultAge DistributionAsian PeopleBody Mass IndexEthnicityFemaleHumansHypertensionLive BirthLogistic ModelsLondonMaternal AgeMultivariate AnalysisObesityOdds RatioParity

Identifiers

PMID25481783
PMCPMC4272534
OpenAlexW2166047575

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.