Perinatal Complications in Children of Schizophrenic Mothers

Abstract

Rates of pregnancy and birth complications (PBC's) were studied in 166 children born to 112 schizophrenic women (high risk) and 90 children born to 84 normal controls (low risk). No significant differences were found between the two groups taken as a whole, either in the number or in the severity of PBC's. However, significantly higher rates of PBC's were found to accompany the first pregnancies and deliveries of schizophrenic women as compared to the first reproductions of normal women. Furthermore, whereas normal women tended to have higher rates of PBC's with increasing age and parity, neither age nor delivery number seemed to affect the rate of PBC's among schizophrenic women.