RESEARCH ARTICLE Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Risk of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes

Background and Objectives Existing data on pregnancy complications in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are incon-sistent. To address these inconsistencies, we investigated potential associations between IBD, IBD-related medication use during pregnancy, and pregnancy loss, pre-eclampsia, preterm delivery, Apgar score, and congenital abnormalities. Methods We conducted a cohort study in>85,000 Danish National Birth Cohort women who were pregnant in the period 1996-2002 and had information on IBD, IBD-related medication use (systemic or local corticosteroids, 5-aminosalicylates), pregnancy outcomes and potential confounders. We evaluated associations between IBD and adverse pregnancy/birth out-comes using Cox regression and log-linear binomial regression. Results IBD was strongly and significantly associated with severe pre-eclampsia, preterm prema-ture rupture of membranes and medically indicated preterm delivery in women using sys