Background: Pregnant individuals who have sustained injury are advised to seek immediate care and treatment regardless of injury severity, as these injuries can be life-threatening for both mother and fetus. Using a California administrative birth cohort, the present study aims to examine adverse birth outcomes associated with trauma-related injuries during pregnancy.
Methods:
We performed a retrospective study of pregnant individuals using data from an administrative birth cohort using data from 2016 through 2020, resulting in an analytical sample of 1, 910, 761 pregnant individuals. Poisson regression models were used to calculate unadjusted and adjusted risk ratios of adverse birth outcomes by the presence of injury diagnoses and by the top five prevalent injuries. The models were adjusted for maternal sociodemographic characteristics, tobacco use, alcohol use disorder, and substance abuse.
Results:
A total of 53, 692 individuals reported suffering traumatic injuries during pregnancy. Pregnant individuals who were poisoned during pregnancy were at a greater risk of giving birth to a baby prematurely (aRR=2.1, 95% CI: 1.9 to 2.2) or being admitted to the NICU (aRR= 2.1 (95% CI: 1.9 to 2.2) relative to the pregnant individuals who were not poisoned.
Conclusion:
Sustaining a traumatic injury during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of adverse birth outcomes, particularly seen with preterm birth and NICU admission. However, we found no consistent pattern in the documented number of injury diagnoses sustained. Injury prevention programs and hospital guidelines on treating injured pregnant individuals may be beneficial for both mother and fetus in the event of a traumatic injury.