title: Adverse infant outcomes associated with first-trimester vaginal bleeding.
abstract: We assessed the association between first-trimester vaginal bleeding and singleton infant outcomes in a hospital-based population of 11,444 nondiabetic women. Low birth weight (LBW), shortened gestation, LBW at term, and neonatal death occurred more often in women reporting first-trimester bleeding than in those who never bled. These relationships remained statistically significant after adjusting for confounding factors. Women who experienced vaginal bleeding limited to the first trimester (N = 1174) had double the risk of delivering a preterm infant compared with those experiencing no bleeding (adjusted risk ratio = 2.0; 95% confidence interval 1.6-2.5). Bleeding limited to the first trimester was associated with a 1.6-fold risk of delivery of a term LBW infant (95% confidence interval 1.3-2.0). These results suggest that first-trimester vaginal bleeding is an important correlate of adverse infant outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mittendorf
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lieberman
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Monson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature; D011247:Pregnancy; D011249:Pregnancy Complications, Cardiovascular; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D012307:Risk Factors; D014592:Uterine Hemorrhage