These New Zealand authors evaluated the relationship between perceived discrimination, as measured in pregnancy, with birth weight and gestation length among 1653 Māori, Pacific, and Asian women. Some type of unfair treatment that they attributed to their ethnicity was reported by 30% of the sample. Among Māori women, unfair treatment at work and in acquiring housing were associated with lower birth weight when compared to Māori women not experiencing these types of discrimination (β – 243 and – 146 g, respectively), while significantly shorter gestation was found in those experiencing an ethnically motivated physical attack and unfair treatment in the workplace, in the criminal justice system, or in banking ( β – 1.06 , – 0.95 , – 0.55 and – 0.73 weeks, respectively).
