Maternal mental disorders and risk of pathological abdominal conditions in children

The etiology of pediatric abdominal disorders is poorly understood, and the relationship with maternal mental health is understudied. We sought to determine the association between maternal psychiatric disorders and abdominal conditions in childhood. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 1,080,518 newborns in Quebec, Canada, between 2006 and 2020. We identified maternal mental disorders before or during pregnancy and computed the incidence of abdominal disorders in offspring before 1 year of age. Outcomes included Hirschsprung disease; hypertrophic pyloric stenosis; and esophageal, intestinal, and biliary atresia. We calculated adjusted risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association of maternal mental disorders with these pediatric abdominal disorders. Among 51,371 children exposed to maternal mental disorders, 200 children had an abdominal condition, for a rate of 38.9 cases per 10,000 children (95% CI 33.6-44.3) compared with 27.7 per 10,000 for children who were unexposed to maternal mental disorders (95% CI 26.7-28.7). Compared with no mental disorder, maternal mental disorders were associated with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (RR 1.39, 95% CI 1.16-1.68). Associations were stronger for severe mental disorders and were more marked for depression and stress and anxiety disorders. Maternal mental disorders are associated with the risk of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in offspring. The origin of hypertrophic pyloric stenosis may relate to maternal mental disorders that were present during pregnancy.