Ethnic Differences in Birth Weight and Cesarean Deliveries in Zaria, Nigeria

Abstract

Numerous biological traits have shown significant difference in respect to ethnicity, newborn characteristics and mode of delivery. This study of birth weight was conducted at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria to check the variation among the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria (Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba). A dataset of 2163 (Hausa n= 1268, Igbo n= 367 and Yoruba n = 528) maternity records covering deliveries for eight years (1996-2004) was used for this study. The result showed that there is a significant difference (P<0.001) in the mean birth of the three ethnic groups. The prevalence of cesarean deliveries among the ethnic groups significantly associated with the Igbo ethnic group having higher percentage (Hausa 7.18%, Igbo 12.33% and Yoruba 6.89%: x = 11.33, df = 2, P= 0.003). This study has shown that the Igbo ethnic groups have higher birth weights, which may be the predisposing factor to higher percentage of cesarean deliveries.