Background & aims: The aim of our study was to investigate the risks of pregnancy and childbirth complications in women with autoimmune hepatitis compared to the population controls.
Methods: In a nationwide cohort study of all pregnancies between 2006 and 2011 we investigated the risks of adverse pregnancy outcome in 171 births in women with diagnosed autoimmune hepatitis using the data from the Swedish Medical Birth and Patient Registries. Births to women without autoimmune hepatitis served as population controls (n = 576 642). Relative risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using Poisson regression models adjusting for potential confounders.
Results: Women with AIH had an increased risk of gestational diabetes (RR = 4.35, 95% CI 2.21-8.57), of preterm birth (RR = 3.21, 95% CI 1.97-4.92) and of low-birth-weight child (RR = 2.51, 95% CI 1.51-4.19). We found no statistically significant association between autoimmune hepatitis and pre-eclampsia, caesarean section, low 5-min Apgar score, small for gestational age birth, congenital malformation and neonatal mortality.
Conclusions: Autoimmune hepatitis is a risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. High quality prenatal and antenatal care is important for women with autoimmune hepatitis and their infants.
Keywords: gestational diabetes; pre-eclampsia; stillbirth.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.