A starch-gel electrophoretic study of Hb Bart’s in newborns of different racial groups in West Malaysia showed its presence in 7% of 568 Chinese, 4.9% of 205 Malay, and 1.8% of 226 Indian newborn babies. Quantitation of Hb Bart’s by cellulose acetate electro phoresis revealed the existence of two groups, one with levels of 1.6–3.2%, the other with 5.1–12.3%. Levels of Hb Bart’s in 26 of the Chinese, 5 of the Malay, and none of the Indian infants exceeded 5%; in 13 of the Chinese, 5 of the Malay, and 4 of the Indian newborns they were less than 3.2%.