Hispanics mothers in the United States with asthma are at a higher risk for neonatal complications.

Hispanic mothers with asthma, when compared with Hispanic mothers without asthma, were more likely to give birth to infants with apnea or small-for gestational age issues. They are also admitted to the intensive care more often than babies born to mothers without asthma, according to Pauline Mendola, PhD, lead researcher on the recently published study examining asthma and neonatal complications.

"Asthma is the most common chronic disease in pregnancy and both asthma and maternal race/ethnicity are associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes," said Mendola. "Since the prevalence of asthma also varies by race/ethnicity, we wanted to assess whether asthma was an important contributor to racial/ethnic disparities in pregnancy outcomes."

Mendola also noted more research needs to be done among different ethnicities of the mothers. The current study did not explore Hispanic or Asian/Pacific Islander subgroups or countries of origin.

"In general, maternal asthma did not impact the risk of obstetric and neonatal complications within racial/ethnic groups," Mendola said. "However, compared to mothers of the same race/ethnicity without asthma, White and Hispanic asthmatic mothers were more likely to have infants born small-for gestational age or admitted to the NICU."

The American Lung Association indicated some Hispanic subgroups have higher- or lower-than average rates of asthma. Puerto Ricans, have the highest rates of asthma even when compared to African Americans, but Hispanics of Dominican descent have rates significantly lower than non-Hispanic whites.

According to the Office of Minority Health, more than 3 million Hispanics in the United States live with asthma. Puerto Ricans tend to be affected with asthma two times more than any other subgroup.

Research shows a number of factors contribute to the health disparity when it comes to asthma in Hispanics. This includes higher rates of obesity and increased exposure to pollution.