Background: In recent years the sex ratio at birth in Viet Nam is imbalanced, with the number of male births being higher than that of female births. Objectives: To describe the trend and distribution of sex ratio at birth by time and geography, and investigate the relationship between sex ratio at birth and abortion ratio in 2006. Subjects and method: The study was conducted in 3.840 communal health stations, 723 district hospitals/polyclinics and 132 provincial and central hospitals with total of 1,095,064 births, occupied 78% of births over the nation in 2006. Result: The male/female sex ratio varies between areas, with the ratio being higher in rural than in urban and higher in the North \u2013East and North-Central regions than in the rest of country (p<0.05). Conclusion: There has been the clear imbalance of sex ratio at birth since 2002 (varying from 110 to 113), as well as the significant imbalance of sex ratio at birth by provinces. High imbalance of sex ratio at birth is related to the high abortion rate in these provinces. Viet Nam needs to implement strong measures/actions to avoid the same situation as in China and India.
Sex ratio at birth

OBJECTIVETo study the factors that affect the sex ratio of live births in procedures of assisted reproductive technology (ART).

METHODSThe clinical data were collected from 4348 IVF-ET/freeze-thawed embryo transfer cycles that led to the birth of 5606 babies of known gender between 2008 and 2014. We assessed the impact of maternal age, paternal age, insemination method, the type of embryo transferred, stage of embryo transferred, single and twin births, previous abortion following ART, and cause of infertility on the sex ratio of the live births.

RESULTSThe total cohort included 3019 male and 2588 female babies, with a general sex ratio of 116:100. The sex ratio was 117:100 among singleton deliveries and 116:100 among twin deliveries. The sex ratio was 117:100 among the first births with ART treatment and 117:100 among the second births. For singleton deliveries, an advanced maternal age or paternal age was significantly correlated with an elevated sex ratio of births (58.4% vs 52.8%, P=0.012; 56.4% vs 52.3%, P=0.026), while ICSI was significantly correlated with a decreased sex ratio of births (45.7% vs 55.6%, P<0.001); for twin deliveries, none of the these factors was significantly correlated with the sex ratio of birth. For the first baby born after ART treatment, an advanced maternal age was significantly related to an increased sex ratio of births (57.4% vs 53.0%, P=0.009), while ICSI was significantly related to a decreased sex ratio of births (48.6% vs 55.4%, P=0.001); for the second baby born with ART treatment, none of these factors was significantly correlated with the sex ratio of birth. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed that the maternal age (OR:0.836, 95% CI 0.731-0.955, P<0.05) and insemination method (OR:1.151, 95% CI 1.027-1.289, P<0.05) were significantly related to the sex ratio of birth, but in multivariable logistic regression analysis, after controlling for compounding factors, none of these factors was identified as independent predictive factors for sex ratio of births.

CONCLUSIONSAn advanced maternal age is related to a higher live birth sex ratio, while ICSI is related to a decreased percentage of male babies. For singleton deliveries, an advanced paternal age is related to a higher sex ratio of births.

Embryo Transfer ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infertility ; Live Birth ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted ; Sex Ratio

Objective: To investigate the effect of embryo quality at different developmental stages on the secondary sex ratio (SSR) of single live birth neonates. Methods: Data for patients with singleton live births after embryo transferred between January 2016 and January 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The effect of embryo quality at different development stages on the SSR of 11 713 singleton live births were investigated. The association of SSR and embryo quality at different development stages was examined in univariate analysis and in a multivariate logistic regression model, after adjustment for confounders, using two models (Ⅰ and Ⅱ). Results: The age of both male and female, body mass index of both male and female, basal follicle stimulating hormone and estradiol, smoking of male, methods of insemination, methods of sperm extraction, types of transfer cycle and the number of embryo transferred were not related with SSR (all P>0.05). After adjustment for confounders, the probability of a male live birth was higher after transfer of good-quality blastula than after transfer of poorer-quality blastula (model Ⅰ: aOR=0.73, 95%CI: 0.65-0.82, P<0.001; model Ⅱ: aOR=0.73, 95%CI: 0.65-0.82, P<0.001). The quality of cleavage stage embryo was not associated with SSR (model Ⅰ: aOR=0.99, 95%CI: 0.87-1.13, P=0.937; model Ⅱ: aOR=0.99, 95%CI: 0.87-1.13, P=0.899). Conclusions: The SSR of singleton live births after embryo transfer is not correlated with the quality of cleavage stage embryo, but is correlated with the quality of blastula. Good-quality blastula transfer is more likely to result in a male live birth.
Infant, Newborn ; Pregnancy ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Live Birth ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Semen ; Blastocyst

Clinical and statistical observations were performed on 744 cases of meonates which were admitted in the nursery, Kyungpook National University Hospital, during the 3 years from January 1973 to December 1975. The results were as following : 1) Sex ratio of male to female was 1.02:1. 2) The mortality rate of neonates was 19.1 per 1000 neonates, and the majority of neonatal deaths was low birth weight neonate (78.6%) and no sex difference. 3) The causes of deaths in order of frequency were prematurity (42.9%), respiratory disease (21.4%), congenital anormalies (21.4%), birth injury (7.1%), and unknown causes (7.1%). 4) Gestational period of the neonates was as following ; under 38 weeks : 101 cases (13.6%) between 38 weeks and 42 weeks : 594 cases (79.8%) above 42 weeks : 49 cases (6.6%) 5) The percentage distribution was 15.2% for 2,500gm or less (16.8% in male, 13.6% in female), 81.8% for 2,500~4,000gm, and 3.0% for 4,000gm or above. 6) Estimation of growth datas in neonates was as following ; Weight : 3.28kg in male, 3.19kg in female Height : 50.8cm in male, 50.6cm in female Head circumference : 34.0cm in male, 33.8cm in female Chest circumference : 32.5cm in male, 33.7cm in female 7) The incidence of the neonatal jaundice was 63.4% of all neonates and no differences in weight and sex respectively. 8) The incidence of twin pregnancy was 3.0% and sex ratio was 1.1:1 in male preponderance.
Birth Injuries ; Cause of Death ; Female ; Gyeongsangbuk-do ; Head ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn* ; Jaundice, Neonatal ; Male ; Mortality ; Nurseries ; Pregnancy, Twin ; Sex Characteristics ; Sex Ratio ; Thorax

PURPOSE: The statistical birth data related to maternity and newborns over the past 15 years in Korea was analyzed in order to review the changing patterns of maternity and newborns in Korea. METHODS: Statistical data after 1995 in Korea were obtained from the Statistics Korea. Birth data related to maternity (distribution of birth rate, maternal age, advanced maternal age group, rank of birth, and time of pregnancy) and newborn (distribution of number of births, birth weight, ratio of sex, and multiple births) were analyzed. RESULTS: The average age of maternity is increasing while births in an advanced age has also increased from 4.7% in 1995 to 15.5% in 2009. There was a decrease in the total number of births, total birth rate and average birth weight. The rate of premature births in an advanced age occupied more than 6% of this study. The ratio of sex from the third born child and beyond has been relieved. The rate of multiple births has increased. The birth rate within two years of cohabitation before giving birth to a couple's first child has decreased. CONCLUSIONS: The rates of newborns requiring perinatal care such as births of prematurity, low birth weight infants, multiple pregnancies, etc are increasing. This is in relation to the increase in age of maternity and number of pregnancies in an advanced age. Therefore, there is an increase demand for strategies in order to decrease the age of maternity and the rate of pregnancies in an advanced age.
Birth Rate ; Birth Weight ; Child ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Korea ; Maternal Age ; Multiple Birth Offspring ; Parturition ; Perinatal Care ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Multiple ; Premature Birth ; Sex Ratio

We made clinical and statistical observation of low birth weight infants who were delivered at Keimyung University hospital during the 2 years and 4 months period from March, 1979 through July, 1981. The results obtained were as follows: 1) The sex ratio for live birth infants, male to female, was 1.28:1, and low-birth-weight infants was 0.96:1. The incidence of low birth weight infants was 66.5 per 1,000 live births. 2) The etiology of low-birth-weight infants, in order of frequency was: 1st, multiple pregncy, 2nd , permature ruptupe of membrane, 3rd, toxemia, 4th malposition of fotus and 5th , plaoente previa and abruptio placents. 3) The mortality rate for low-birth-weight infants was 123.5/1,000 low-birth-weight infants. 4) Premature percentage of low-birth-weight infants was 61.7%. 5) A sharp decrease in mortality rate was observed when infants weight over 1,750 grams at birth, and over 35 weeks gestation period. Therefore delayed delivery was recommendec. 6) Of all deaths of low-birth-weight infants in the nuracry, 85.9% died within 24 hours of birth, and 82.9% within 48 hours of birth. 7) There was no difference between male and female infants regarding mean helight, mean head circumference and mena chest cincumference according to weight.
Female ; Head ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant* ; Infant, Low Birth Weight* ; Infant, Newborn ; Live Birth ; Male ; Membranes ; Mortality ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Sex Ratio ; Thorax ; Toxemia

We made clinical and statistical observation of low birth weight infants who were delivered at Keimyung University hospital during the 2 years and 4 months period from March, 1979 through July, 1981. The results obtained were as follows: 1) The sex ratio for live birth infants, male to female, was 1.28:1, and low-birth-weight infants was 0.96:1. The incidence of low birth weight infants was 66.5 per 1,000 live births. 2) The etiology of low-birth-weight infants, in order of frequency was: 1st, multiple pregncy, 2nd , permature ruptupe of membrane, 3rd, toxemia, 4th malposition of fotus and 5th , plaoente previa and abruptio placents. 3) The mortality rate for low-birth-weight infants was 123.5/1,000 low-birth-weight infants. 4) Premature percentage of low-birth-weight infants was 61.7%. 5) A sharp decrease in mortality rate was observed when infants weight over 1,750 grams at birth, and over 35 weeks gestation period. Therefore delayed delivery was recommendec. 6) Of all deaths of low-birth-weight infants in the nuracry, 85.9% died within 24 hours of birth, and 82.9% within 48 hours of birth. 7) There was no difference between male and female infants regarding mean helight, mean head circumference and mena chest cincumference according to weight.
Female ; Head ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant* ; Infant, Low Birth Weight* ; Infant, Newborn ; Live Birth ; Male ; Membranes ; Mortality ; Parturition ; Pregnancy ; Sex Ratio ; Thorax ; Toxemia

PURPOSE: This study was done to see whether neonates born to unmarried mothers have higher rates of prematurity, low birth weight, perinatal morbidity and mortality than normal married group. METHODS: 88 neonates of unmarried mothers who were admitted in our NICU during the 5-year period from January 1987 through December 1991 were evaluated, and as the control group served 276 neonates of married mothers in 12 randomly selected weeks extended over the year during the same period. In statistical analyses, all data were analyzed by x2 test, Student t-test, and regression equation. RESULTS: 1) Unmarried mothers were 19.9+/-2.5(SD) year-old, with the majority(64.8%) falling into to age group between 16 and 20 years, whereas the control group was significantly older with 28.8+/-3.9 years. 2) Sex ratio was 1.38 : 1, with male prepondering, mean gestational age 35.5+/-3.7 weeks and mean birth weight 2,240+/-640g, in the unmarried group, differing significantly from the control group with 38.5+/-37 weeks and 2,910+/-750g. 3) Incidences of prematurity and low birth weight (LBW) were 70.5% and 75.0%, and total mortality was 28.4%. These values were significantly higher than in the control group, with 22.5%, 32.2%, 7.2%, respectively, and prematurity and LBW rate were also significantly higher in both groups of the same maternal age. Birth weight of unmarried group was significantly lower than control group in the same gestational age. Gestational age, birth weight, mortality rate were not significantly correlated to maternal age in both unmarried and control groups. 4) For the neonates of unmarried mothers, the majority was delivered either by midwife or in local obstetric clinics, and most of them(57.9%) were delivered by induction. 5) Neonatal diseases were jaundice, respiratory distress syndrome(RDS) and infection in the decreasing order, and incidence of RDS was significantly higher than in control group. But the death rate of RDS only tended to be higher in the unmarried-group. CONCLUSIONS: The neonates born to unmarried mothers have significantly higher rates of prematurity, LBW and mortality, and lower birth weight than the control group in the same gestational age. For neonatal diseases, incidence of RDS was significantly higher, and its mortality was significantly higher in the unmarried-group. Awareness on the seriousness of the problems leading to preventive measures against juvenile and unmarried child births, along with improved managements of babies born to unmarried mothers are urgently advocated.
Birth Weight ; Child ; Gestational Age ; Humans ; Illegitimacy ; Incidence ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn* ; Jaundice ; Male ; Maternal Age ; Midwifery ; Mortality ; Mothers ; Parturition ; Sex Ratio ; Single Person*

Clinical survey was performed on 413 cases of twin pregnancies and their 816 twin babies who were born at IlSin Christian Hospital during 5years from January 1987 to December 1991. The result of study was as follows: 1) there was 413 twin pregnancies among 40,711 deliveries, so the incidence of twins was 1:98.6. Average male-female sex ratio of twins was 1.3:1, same sex pairs rate was 86% and different sex ratio was 14%. 2) The incidence of relation with maternal age was highest between 25 years old and 29 years old but the ratio of twin delivery to total delivery was 0.9% so, was not higher than other age group. 3) The incidence of relation with maternal parity was highest at first pregnancy but the ratio of twin delivery to total delivery was highest at second pregnancies. 4) Normal birth weight infants were 45.7%, low birth weight infants were 54.3% and very low birth weight infants was 9.3%. Fullt-erm infants were 63.7% and prematurity were 35.4%. 5) The incidence of feto-fetal transfusion was 7.3%. 6) Perinatal death rate was 76.3 and was more higher in second babies. The most common cause of perinatal death was prematurity, followed by respiratory complication, congenital anomaly, infection and asphyxia. Still-births were 8 cases.
Adult ; Asphyxia ; Birth Weight ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infant ; Infant, Low Birth Weight ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight ; Maternal Age ; Mortality ; Parity ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy, Twin ; Sex Ratio ; Twins*

In Korea, international marriage and inflow of foreigners have increased, as globalization leads to increase of human and resource movement, unbalanced sex ratios in marriage markets, and aging phenomenon, and decrease of fertility rate. The number of marriage-based immigrant women and their children is expected to be growing continuously. Because the majority of immigrant women are between 18 and 49 years old and permanently reside in Korea, there is a high possibility for them to give birth in the country. Many immigrant women get pregnant before acquiring nationality in Korea or without having enough time to adapt themselves to new circumstances. Thus, it is critical for them to have basic reproductive health care and health protection services. Also, there is a great need of maternal and child health services for multi-cultural family. marriage-based immigrant women are more likely to be vulnerable to injuries and diseases due to the relatively low level of income, education, and language skill, as well as cultural and environmental differences from their home country. Despite of the great health care needs for women and children in multi-cultural family, it lacks decent health care services for them and also there is no integrated national survey on their health. Therefore, it is necessary to establish integrated research system to understand the current health conditions and problems of women and children in multi-cultural family. Additionally, we need to set up the long-term life-support policies concerning different situations in multi-cultural families.
Aging ; Birth Rate ; Child Health Services ; Child Health* ; Child* ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education ; Emigrants and Immigrants ; Ethnic Groups ; Female ; Humans ; Internationality ; Korea* ; Marriage ; Parturition ; Reproductive Health ; Sex Ratio