...over 90 percent of the excess risk of very low birth weight among black infants was related to an increased risk among their mothers (risk ratio, 2.5 to 3.5) of chorioamnionitis or premature rupture of membranes (accounting for 38 percent of the excess), hypertensive disorder (12 percent), hemorrhage (10 percent), idiopathic preterm labor (21 percent), or a combination of these maternal conditions (14 percent). It is striking that the same conditions were related to similar percentages of the cases of very low birth weight among white infants. This finding deserves greater emphasis, since it suggests that effective prevention or treatment of any of these conditions in black women would be likely to improve outcomes overall.
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