Premium
Birth outcomes and pregnancy complications in women with a history of anorexia nervosa
Author(s) -
Ekéus C,
Lindberg L,
Lindblad F,
Hjern A
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
bjog: an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.157
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1471-0528
pISSN - 1470-0328
DOI - 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2006.01012.x
Subject(s) - anorexia nervosa , medicine , obstetrics , pregnancy , population , pediatrics , underweight , body mass index , eating disorders , psychiatry , overweight , genetics , environmental health , biology
Objective To examine birth outcomes and pregnancy complications in women with a history of anorexia nervosa. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Nationwide study in Sweden. Population All primiparous women—discharged from hospital with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa during 1973 to 1996—who gave birth during 1983 to 2002 ( n = 1000) were compared with all non‐anorexia nervosa primiparous women who gave birth during the same years ( n = 827 582). Method Register study with data from Medical Birth Registry and National Patient Discharge Register. Main outcome measures Pre‐eclampsia, instrumental delivery, prematurity, small for gestational age, birthweight, Apgar score and perinatal mortality. Results Main birth outcome measures in women with a history of anorexia nervosa were very similar to the main population. The only observed differences were a slightly lower mean birthweight and lower adjusted odds ratios for instrumental delivery in the anorexia nervosa group compared with the main population. Neither severity of the disease nor a shorter recovery phase after first hospitalisation was related to pregnancy complications or birth outcomes. Conclusion A history of anorexia nervosa was not associated with negative birth outcomes. Thus, special obstetric monitoring of pregnant women with history of anorexia nervosa does not seem to be warranted in a country with a satisfactory maternity surveillance.