• C Ekéus, L Lindberg, F Lindblad, and A Hjern.
• Division of Reproductive and Perinatal Health, Department of Woman and Child Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. cecilia.ekeus@ki.se
• BJOG. 2006 Aug 1; 113 (8): 925-9.

ObjectiveTo examine birth outcomes and pregnancy complications in women with a history of anorexia nervosa.DesignProspective cohort study.SettingNationwide study in Sweden.PopulationAll primiparous women--discharged from hospital with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa during 1973 to 1996--who gave birth during 1983 to 2002 (n = 1000) were compared with all non-anorexia nervosa primiparous women who gave birth during the same years (n = 827,582).MethodRegister study with data from Medical Birth Registry and National Patient Discharge Register.Main Outcome MeasuresPre-eclampsia, instrumental delivery, prematurity, small for gestational age, birthweight, Apgar score and perinatal mortality.ResultsMain birth outcome measures in women with a history of anorexia nervosa were very similar to the main population. The only observed differences were a slightly lower mean birthweight and lower adjusted odds ratios for instrumental delivery in the anorexia nervosa group compared with the main population. Neither severity of the disease nor a shorter recovery phase after first hospitalisation was related to pregnancy complications or birth outcomes.ConclusionA history of anorexia nervosa was not associated with negative birth outcomes. Thus, special obstetric monitoring of pregnant women with history of anorexia nervosa does not seem to be warranted in a country with a satisfactory maternity surveillance.

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