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Childhood abuse and common complaints in pregnancy

Mirjam Lukasse1, Berit Schei, Siri Vangen

  • 1University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.

Birth (Berkeley, Calif.)
|September 15, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Childhood abuse, including emotional, physical, and sexual forms, is linked to more pregnancy complaints. Pregnant women with a history of abuse report a higher number of common pregnancy symptoms.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Reproductive Health
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Childhood abuse significantly impacts adult health outcomes.
  • A large Norwegian cohort study investigated the prevalence of childhood abuse among pregnant women.
  • The study focused on emotional, physical, and sexual abuse types.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the prevalence of childhood emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in a Norwegian pregnant population.
  • To examine the association between childhood abuse and common pregnancy complaints.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).
  • Employed regression analyses to assess the relationship between childhood abuse and 16 common pregnancy complaints.
  • Analyzed associations across different types and combinations of childhood abuse.

Main Results:

  • 18% of pregnant women reported experiencing childhood abuse.
  • All 16 common pregnancy complaints were associated with reported childhood abuse.
  • A dose-response relationship was observed, with higher abuse types correlating with more complaints; odds ratios ranged from 1.7 to 3.5.

Conclusions:

  • Childhood abuse is significantly associated with an increased reporting of common pregnancy complaints.
  • Clinicians should consider childhood abuse history in pregnant women presenting with multiple common complaints.
  • The findings highlight the long-term health implications of childhood abuse into pregnancy.
Abstract

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