Pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy: the impact of parity.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to estimate the association of parity with pelvic girdle syndrome (PGS; pain in anterior and bilateral posterior pelvis).


METHODS
We included 75,939 pregnant women in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Data were obtained by self-administered questionnaires.


RESULTS
By pregnancy week 30, 15% of the women had developed PGS. Among first-time mothers, 11% of the women reported PGS, compared with 18% of the women with 1 previous delivery and 21% of women with 2 previous deliveries. The odds ratios for PGS of having had 1 or 2 previous deliveries were 1.9 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9-2.0) and 2.4 (95% CI, 2.3-2.6), respectively, after adjustment for other study factors. For PGS with severe pain, the corresponding odds ratios were 2.6 (95% CI, 2.3-2.9) and 3.8 (95% CI, 3.3-4.3).


CONCLUSIONS
The risk of the development of PGS increased with number of previous deliveries, which suggests that parity-related factors play a causal role.
Division of Mental Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway. elkb@fhi.no
Elisabeth K
EK
Bjelland
Anne
A
Eskild
Rune
R
Johansen
Malin
M
Eberhard-Gran
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric / Q000379:methods; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D009664:Norway; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010298:Parity; D010384:Pelvic Bones / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult