Pregnancy outcomes of US-born and foreign-born Japanese Americans.

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated the birth outcomes of Japanese Americans, focusing on the role of the mother's place of birth.

METHODS

Single live births to US-resident Japanese American mothers (n = 37,941) were selected from the 1983 through 1987 US linked live birth-infant death files.

RESULTS

US-born mothers were more likely than foreign-born mothers to be less than 18 years old and not married, to start prenatal care early, and to more adequately use prenatal care. Infants of foreign-born Japanese Americans had a slightly lower risk of low birthweight.No significant differences were found between nativity groups for very low birthweight or neonatal, postneonatal, and infant mortality. The mortality rates of infants of US-born (6.2) and foreign-born (5.4) Japanese American women were below the US Year 2000 objective but still exceeded Japan's 1990 rate (4.6). However, low-birthweight percentages of the US-born group (5.7%) and the foreign-born group (5.0%) were similar to that of Japan (5.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

The infants of foreign-born Japanese-American women exhibited modestly better low-birthweight percentages than those of US-born Japanese Americans. This finding supports theories of the healthy immigrant.