Risk of subsequent pregnancy complications heightened with Childhood trauma

Childhood trauma, such as abuse, emotional neglect, and exposure to domestic violence, may heighten a woman’s subsequent risk of pregnancy complications, and of giving birth to a low birthweight or premature baby, finds a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

The risks of pregnancy-related diabetes, high blood pressure, depression/anxiety, and giving birth to underweight and or premature babies may all be significantly higher, the analysis suggests.

While previously published research suggests that early life trauma can have a major negative impact on health in adulthood, it’s not clear if this extends to pregnancy. To explore this further, the researchers reviewed 32 relevant studies, published between 1994 and 2022. Three out of 4 were long-term (cohort) studies, with the remainder observational or comparative (case-control) studies. Study participants ranged in number from 48 to 11,556.

Pooled data analysis of 21 studies showed that, overall, women who had experienced some form of childhood trauma were 37% more likely to have pregnancy complications than those who hadn’t. They were also 31% more likely to give birth to underweight or premature babies.

Further in-depth analysis showed that childhood trauma was associated with a 39% heightened risk of pregnancy-related diabetes, a 59% heightened risk of antenatal depression, a 27% heightened risk of giving birth to an underweight baby, and a 41% heightened risk of preterm delivery.

Reference: Adverse childhood experiences, the risk of pregnancy complications and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis, BMJ Open, DOI 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-063826