title: The effects of high parity and socioeconomic status on obstetric and neonatal outcome.
abstract: We studied the interaction of social status and high parity in 15,102 consecutive births in one inner-city hospital, of which 1874 (12.4%) occurred in mothers who had given birth to seven or more infants (Grand multiparae). Group 1 consisted of 1258 grand multiparae from a socioeconomically stable and homogeneous ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem, and group 2, included all other grand multiparae of relatively greater age and lower socioeconomic status. A significantly higher rate of small for gestational age, low birth weight and preterm infants was found in group 2 compared with group 1. The results suggest that grand multiparity is not of itself a risk factor, but reflects the confounding effect of environmental conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Bikur Cholim Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Seidman
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dollberg
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gale
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D007557:Israel; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012067:Religion; D012307:Risk Factors; D012923:Social Class