Birth outcomes and pregnancy complications in women with a history of anorexia nervosa

• Published in: BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology 2006-08, Vol.113 (8), p.925-929
• Main Authors: Ekéus, C, Lindberg, L, Lindblad, F, Hjern, A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Anorexia; Anorexia nervosa; Anorexia Nervosa - epidemiology; Apgar Score; Biological and medical sciences; Birth Weight; Births; Clinical outcomes; Cohort Studies; Female; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Small for Gestational Age; instrumental delivery; Medical sciences; Medicin och hälsovetenskap; Middle Aged; Obstetrics; perinatal complication; Pre-Eclampsia - epidemiology; Pregnancy; pregnancy complication; Pregnancy Complications - epidemiology; Pregnancy Outcome - epidemiology; Prospective Studies; Sweden - epidemiology; Vacuum Extraction, Obstetrical; Womens history
• ISSN: 1470-0328; 1471-0528
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2006.01012.x

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.