健康英语新闻:Asian births on the rise in New Zealand

WELLINGTON, May 22 (Xinhua) -- One in every eight women giving birth in a New Zealand hospital last year was Asian, local media reported Sunday.

In the country's most populous city, Auckland, 5,149 Asian women gave birth, more than double the number of 15 years ago, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Last year was the first year in the city when more Asian women gave birth than indigenous Maori women, who registered 5,015 births.

Citing figures from the government statistics agency, Statistics New Zealand, the report said the majority of women nationwide who gave birth last year were still of European descent, accounting for 43,965 of last year's 63,897 births.

But more women of other ethnic backgrounds were also becoming mothers, including those from the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

Auckland University head of obstetrics and gynaecology, Professor Lesley McCowan, said the increase reflected New Zealand is an increasingly multicultural society.