Pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in women with eating disorders

OBJECTIVE: This study was initiated to examine pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in women with past or current eating disorders as compared with a control group. METHODS: Forty-nine nulliparous nonsmoking women previously diagnosed with eating disorders (24 anorexia nervosa, 20 bulimia nervosa, 5 eating disorders not otherwise specified) and 68 controls were recruited in early pregnancy. Data on antenatal complications, mode of delivery, and neonatal outcome variables were collected. For comparisons between groups 1-way analysis of variance or chi(2) test was used. RESULTS: Twenty-two percent of the patients had a verified relapse in eating disorders during pregnancy. Women with past or current eating disorders were at increased risk of hyperemesis (P < .01) and delivered infants with significantly lower birth weight (P < .01) and smaller head circumference (P < .001) as compared with controls. They were also at greater risk of delivering infants with microcephaly (P < .05) and small for gestational age infants (P < .05). CONCLUSION: Pregnant women with past or active eating disorders seem to be at greater risk for delivering infants with lower birth weight, smaller head circumference, microcephaly, and small for gestational age.