Women Born in Asia: Their Obstetric Profiles - a Victorian Study

Chapter 2: Women Born in Asia: Their Obstetric Profiles - a Victorian Study


Overview
Women who were born in Asian countries and now live in Australia constitute a sizeable proportion of the Australian population. According to the 1991 census, approximately 100,000 females born in Asian countries were living in Victoria (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1993). This represents 4.7 per cent of all females in Victoria. A large number of these women are of childbearing age and intent (Christopher et al., 1978). The Report of the Ministerial Taskforce on Ethnic Health (Health Department Victoria, 1991) also indicated that a number of Asian communities have a high proportion of their female members in the 20-35 age group — a factor with clear implications for pregnancy support and birthing services.

In Australia, there have not been many studies examining the obstetric characteristics of women born in Asia. One study looked at obstetric complications in Vietnamese refugees in Adelaide between 1977-80 (Ward et al., 1981) and another examined the obstetric profiles of Filipino and Vietnamese women in Brisbane during 1980-84 (Howell, 1989). These two studies, however, only investigated the pregnancy outcomes of a particular group of Asian women over a short period of time and their data were based on the record of one hospital. In South Australia, Chan et al. (1988) examined the obstetric profiles of immigrant women from non-English-speaking countries during 1981-83. The study looked at the non-English-speaking women as a collective group and their obstetric characteristics were compared with that of women born in Australia. However, it provided specific information only on Filipino and Vietnamese women.

In Victoria, only one study has reported on Asian women. Henry et al. (1992) conducted a study over a 10-year period on the obstetric characteristics of Vietnamese women in comparison to Australian-born women, and the birthweight of their infants. Again, their data came from only one hospital in Melbourne.

This chapter reports a retrospective study of obstetric profiles of Asian mothers as a collective group. It aims to provide an overall picture of mothers who were born in Asia and who had a baby in Victoria in the 10- year period from 1982 to 1991. It also describes the outcomes of their current pregnancy and compares them with Australian-born women giving birth in Victoria in the same time period. The key question which this chapter is addressing is whether or not there are reasons to be concerned about the medical (clinical) experience of pregnancy and its outcome for Asian-born women in Victoria.


Speakers/ Authors:

PRANEE LIAMPUTTONG RICE
Pranee was born in a small Malay town in the south of Thailand. She received her undergraduate and master's degrees from a Thai university. Pranee came to Australia to undertake her doctoral degree at Monash University in 1982. She has two daughters. Pranee is Senior Lecturer at the School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Australia. Previously she taught in the La Trobe School of Sociology and Anthropology. Her particular interests are in issues related to cultural and social influences on childbearing, childrearing and women's reproductive health. She has published several books and papers in these areas. Three of her books have been used widely in the health area: My 40 Days: A Cross-cultural Resource Book for Health Care Professionals in Birthing Services (1993); Asian Mothers, Australian Birth (editor, 1994); and Maternity and Reproductive Health in Asian Societies (editor, with Lenore Manderson, 1996). Her most recent books are Qualitative Research Methods: A Health Focus (with Douglas Ezzy, in press) and Living in a New Country: Understanding Migrants' Health (editor, in press).

LYNDSEY WATSON
Lyndsey was born in New Zealand and moved to Melbourne when she was 15 years old. She obtained her BSc in 1963 and her master's degree in 1990. She worked in industrial research, secondary school teaching and in the NSW Health Department before having her three children. Since 1982, she has worked in medical or public health research including a bowel cancer case-control study, AIDS epidemic predictions, nursing research and research associated with mothers' and children's health. At present she is the statistician at the Centre for the Study of Mothers' and Children's Health, Monash University.

JUDITH LUMLEY
Judith was born in Britain and studied medicine at Cambridge University before coming to Australia and completing her medical degree and a PhD at Monash University. She is married with three children. Since 1991 Judith has been Director of the Centre for the Study of Mothers' and Children's Health at Monash University and a consultant epidemiologist with the Department of Health and Community Services.

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