Increased risk of low birthweight, infants small for gestational age, and preterm delivery for women with peptic ulcer

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine whether maternal peptic ulcer disease (PUD) is associated with increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, using a nationwide population-based dataset. Study Design: We identified a total of 2120 women who gave birth from 2001 to 2003 with a diagnosis of PUD during pregnancy. Then 10,600 unaffected pregnant women were matched with cases in age and year of delivery. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed for estimation. Results: We found that PUD was independently associated with a 1.18-fold risk of low birthweight (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-1.30), a 1.20-fold risk of preterm delivery (95% CI, 1.02-1.41), and a 1.25-fold (95% CI, 1.11-1.41) higher risk of babies small for gestational age, compared with unaffected mothers, after adjusting for potential confounders. In further examining women with treated PUD, improved effects of PUD medication on the risks of adverse neonate outcomes were not identified. Conclusion: We document increased risk of adverse birth outcomes for women with PUD during pregnancy.