Paediatric follow-up of pregnancies complicated by subnormal oestriol excretion

A cohort of 1238 consecutive women seen early in pregnancy for accurate assessment of gestation had urinary excretion of oestriol measured at 30, 35 and 40 weeks; 92 had a low urinary oestriol excretion confirmed in hospital on at least one occasion. The women in the low-oestriol group were matched for racial origin and maternal age with 90 women in the study population who had persistently normal urinary oestriol excretion values (control group) and their infants were compared. Three infants born in the low-oestriol group and two in the control group subsequently died; 85 of the 89 (95.5%) survivors in the low-oestriol group and 84 of 88 (95.5%) control children were assessed by a paediatrician and a psychologist at the age of 6 years. Anthropometric measurements of children in the low-oestriol group at 6 years of age did not differ significantly from controls and their performance on most psychological tests was not significantly different. The subgroup of 25 children born to women with persistently low oestriol excretion during pregnancy showed a significant reduction in weight and head circumference at 6 years compared with the values in the control group and in the other children in the low-oestriol group. The children born to women with low oestriol excretion during pregnancy showed no increased evidence of developmental, neurological or physical defects at 6 years of age.