Prenatal exposure to hyperemesis gravidarum linked to increased risk of psychological and behavioral disorders in adulthood

P M Mullin; A Bray; F Schoenberg; K W MacGibbon; R Romero; T M Goodwin; M S Fejzo

doi:10.1017/S2040174411000249

Prenatal exposure to hyperemesis gravidarum linked to increased risk of psychological and behavioral disorders in adulthood

J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2011 Aug;2(4):200-4. doi: 10.1017/S2040174411000249.

Authors

P M Mullin¹, A Bray², F Schoenberg², K W MacGibbon³, R Romero⁴, T M Goodwin¹, M S Fejzo¹

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
² 2Department of Statistics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ 3Hyperemesis Education and Research Foundation, Leesburg, VA, USA.
⁴ 4Department of Health and Human Services, NICHD, NIH, DHHS, Perinatology Research Branch, Bethesda, MD, and Detroit, MI, USA.

PMID: 25141163
DOI: 10.1017/S2040174411000249

Abstract

Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, is characterized by long-term maternal stress, undernutrition and dehydration. While maternal stress and malnutrition of pregnancy are linked to poor neonatal outcome and associated with poor adult health, long-term outcome of fetal exposure to HG has never been explored. The purpose of this study is to determine whether long-term emotional and behavioral diagnoses may be associated with fetal exposure to HG. Emotional and behavioral diagnoses of adults born of a pregnancy complicated by HG were compared to diagnoses from non-exposed controls. Offspring exposed to HG in utero were significantly more likely to have a psychological and behavioral disorder (OR = 3.6, P < 0.0001) with diagnoses primarily of depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety. In utero exposure to HG may lead to increased risks of psychological and behavioral disorders in the offspring.