Maternal and infant characteristics: differences and similarities between the Nordic countries and the US.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Data from the Nordic health care registers have been of great value in perinatal epidemiological research. It has been assumed that findings from the Nordic population (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) are applicable to other populations as well, including the population of the US.

Objective

To describe and compare maternal and infant characteristics between the Nordic and the American populations as recorded in the official statistics.

Materials and methods

This population-based study included data on all females who gave birth and their infants in the Nordic countries and the US. The data were obtained from the US National Center for Health Statistics and the official statistics data for the Nordic countries. The data from all six countries

SUBMITTER: Lofling L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4976813 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature