Maternal Diarrhea During the Periconceptional Period and the Risk of Birth Defects, National Birth Defects Prevention...

Area of Science:

• Obstetrics and Gynecology
• Pediatrics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Maternal gastrointestinal infections in early pregnancy may impact fetal development.
• Previous research has not extensively evaluated the link between maternal diarrhea and various birth defects.
• The role of maternal multivitamin use in potentially modifying these associations requires investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the association between maternal diarrhea during early pregnancy and a wide range of birth defects.
• To determine if maternal multivitamin use modifies any observed associations between diarrhea and birth defects.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 16,675 mothers in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) (2006-2011).
• Logistic regression used to evaluate associations between periconceptional maternal diarrhea and 32 categories of birth defects.
• Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) calculated for nine covariates.

Main Results:

• 11% of mothers reported diarrhea during the periconceptional period.
• Elevated associations (p < 0.10) observed between 1-5 day maternal diarrhea and 9 birth defect categories, including hypoplastic left heart and gastroschisis (aORs 1.45-2.62).
• No decreased associations or modification by multivitamin use were found.

Conclusions:

• Results suggest modest associations between shorter maternal diarrhea episodes (1-5 days) and specific birth defects.
• Findings support existing evidence linking maternal gastrointestinal infections in early pregnancy to increased risk of certain birth defects.