The effects of migration on neonatal intensive care outcomes

More than 230 million people around the world are international immigrants. Once ethnically-homogenous societies, especially in Europe and other western countries like Australia and the US, are now increasingly ethnically-diverse. The implications of ethnically-diverse perinatal factors (eg fetal growth and differences in fetal maturity) are important, especially in neonatal intensive care where time-critical management decisions are often based on data extrapolated from ethnically-homogenous populations (eg Caucasians). This article examines available evidence to demonstrate that recognition of the diversity in immigrants worldwide must be acknowledged and that further study to obtain important data to guide clinical management is urgently needed to optimise current perinatal care.