Maternal history of recurrent pregnancy loss is associated with increased risk for long-term pediatric gastrointestinal morbidity in the offspring.

PROBLEM: Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) potentially involves an abnormal maternal inflammatory response. We investigated whether children of mothers with a history of RPL are at an increased risk for childhood gastrointestinal (GI) morbidity, with a specific focus on inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).

METHOD OF STUDY: A population-based cohort analysis comparing the risk for long-term GI morbidity in children born to mothers with and without a history of RPL. Gastrointestinal (GI) morbidity included hospitalizations involving a pre-defined set of ICD-9 codes.

RESULTS: During the study period, 242 186 newborns met the inclusion criteria; 5% of which were offspring to mothers with a history of RPL. Gastrointestinal morbidity was significantly more common in the RPL group (6.6% vs 5.3%). Specifically, offspring to mothers with a history of RPL had significantly higher rates of IBD (2.1% vs 1.7%).

CONCLUSION: Maternal history of RPL is associated with an increased risk for pediatric GI morbidity in the offspring.