Objective: To investigate the relationship between severe life events and disorders in pregnancy.
Design: Cohort study of pregnant women with and without life events.
Setting: Three Scandinavian cities, Uppsala (Sweden), Bergen and Trondheim (Norway).
Subjects: 451 parous women (para 1 and para 2) attending antenatal care. 107 women did and 344 did not experience severe life events just prior to or during pregnancy.
Main outcome measures: Pregnancy disorders, frequency of sick leave and admission to hospital.
Results: There were no significant differences in pregnancy disorders between pregnant women with and without severe life events. However, women with life events were relatively more on sick leave and significantly more often admitted to hospital than pregnant women without this kind of distress in pregnancy.
Conclusion: Severe life events seem largely unrelated to the incidence of specific pregnancy disorders, but seem to have an adverse influence on the pregnant women's general health, as indicated by the use of sick leave and hospitalization.