Obstetric complications in women with schizophrenia

It is not known whether schizophrenic women have increased incidence of com plications during pregnancy and delivery. Data from the Danish Medical Birt h Register were used to compare 2212 births to 1537 schizophrenic women in Denmark with a random sample of all deliveries in Denmark during 1973-1993 (122 931 births to 72 742 women). The schizophrenic women had fewer antenat al care visits. They were at lower risk of pre-eclampsia, but tended to hav e lower Apgar scores. There were no other differences in the incidence of s pecific complications such as placenta previa, placental abruption, and abn ormal fetal presentation. Schizophrenic women were at increased risk of int erventions such as Cesarean section, vaginal assisted delivery, amniotomy, and pharmacological stimulation of labor. There were no important differenc es between the deliveries to schizophrenic women who gave birth before and after their first admission to a psychiatric department. These results show no evidence that schizophrenic women have a greater frequency of specific obstetric complications than non-schizophrenic women. Nevertheless, they ar e at increased risk for interventions during delivery. (C) 2001 Elsevier Sc ience B.V. All rights reserved.