TY - JOUR
T1 - Sex of prior children and risk of stillbirth in subsequent pregnancies
AU - Nielsen, Henriette Svarre
AU - Mortensen, Laust Hvas
AU - Nygaard, Ulrikka
AU - Schnor, Ole
AU - Christiansen, Ole Bjarne
AU - Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo
PY - 2010/1
Y1 - 2010/1
N2 - Background: Delivery of a boy has been reported to increase a woman's risk of recurrent miscarriage in subsequent pregnancies. We explored whether delivery of boys similarly increases the risk of a subsequent stillbirth. Methods: We identified all Danish women delivering their first child (singleton) between 1980 and 1998 (n = 499,731) using the Danish Birth Registry. These women had subsequent singleton births through 2004 (n = 558,314). We assessed the risk of stillbirth conditional on sex of prior children. Results: The risk of stillbirth was increased by 12% after deliver of boys compared with girls (relative risk = 1.12 [95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.23]). This association did not appear to be explained by maternal confounders. CONCLUSION:: Stillbirth risk appears to be slightly higher among the pregnancies of women who have previously delivered a boy. One possible mechanism is maternal immune response to male-specific minor histocompatibility antigens initiated during pregnancies with boys.
AB - Background: Delivery of a boy has been reported to increase a woman's risk of recurrent miscarriage in subsequent pregnancies. We explored whether delivery of boys similarly increases the risk of a subsequent stillbirth. Methods: We identified all Danish women delivering their first child (singleton) between 1980 and 1998 (n = 499,731) using the Danish Birth Registry. These women had subsequent singleton births through 2004 (n = 558,314). We assessed the risk of stillbirth conditional on sex of prior children. Results: The risk of stillbirth was increased by 12% after deliver of boys compared with girls (relative risk = 1.12 [95% confidence interval = 1.02-1.23]). This association did not appear to be explained by maternal confounders. CONCLUSION:: Stillbirth risk appears to be slightly higher among the pregnancies of women who have previously delivered a boy. One possible mechanism is maternal immune response to male-specific minor histocompatibility antigens initiated during pregnancies with boys.
U2 - 10.1097/ede.0b013e3181c04dcf
DO - 10.1097/ede.0b013e3181c04dcf
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 19901840
SN - 1044-3983
VL - 21
SP - 114
EP - 117
JO - Epidemiology
JF - Epidemiology
IS - 1
ER -