Association of pregnancy-induced hypertension with duration of sexual cohabitation before conception

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) 1994-10, Vol.344 (8928), p.973-975
• Main Authors: Robillard, P-Y, Périanin, J, Janky, E, Miri, E.H, Hulsey, T.C, Papiernik, E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biological and medical sciences; Blood pressure; Cohabitation; Coitus; Diseases of mother, fetus and pregnancy; Female; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - immunology; Hypertension - prevention & control; Infant, Newborn; Male; Maternal Age; Medical research; Medical sciences; Odds Ratio; Parity; Paternity; Pre-Eclampsia - immunology; Pre-Eclampsia - prevention & control; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular - immunology; Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular - prevention & control; Pregnancy. Fetus. Placenta; Prenatal Care; Sexual behavior; Spermatozoa - immunology
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(94)91638-1

Summary Pregnancy-induced hypertension affects at least 10% of all pregnancies. An association with first pregnancy or a change in paternity for subsequent pregnancies has been suggested. We studied the duration of sexual cohabitation with the father prior to conception and the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension. During a five-month period, 1011 consecutive women who delivered in an obstetric unit were interviewed about paternity and duration of sexual cohabitation before conception. Obstetric charts were abstracted to identify three groups: those with pregnancy-induced hypertension, chronic hypertension, and normal blood pressure. The incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension was 11·9% among primigravidae, 4·7% among same-paternity multigravidae, and 24·0% among new-paternity multigravidae. For both primigravidae and multigravidae, length of sexual cohabitation before conception was inversely related to the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension (p