Gisladottir, AgnesLuque-Fernandez, Miguel AngelHarlow, Bernard L.Gudmundsdottir, BerglindJonsdottir, EyrunBjarnadottir, Ragnheidur I.Hauksdottir, ArnaAspelund, ThorCnattingius, SvenValdimarsdottir, Unnur2016-04-012016Gisladottir, Agnes, Miguel Angel Luque-Fernandez, Bernard L. Harlow, Berglind Gudmundsdottir, Eyrun Jonsdottir, Ragnheidur I. Bjarnadottir, Arna Hauksdottir, Thor Aspelund, Sven Cnattingius, and Unnur A. Valdimarsdottir. 2016. “Obstetric Outcomes of Mothers Previously Exposed to Sexual Violence.” PLoS ONE 11 (3): e0150726. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0150726. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0150726.1932-6203http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:26318715Background: There is a scarcity of data on the association of sexual violence and women's subsequent obstetric outcomes. Our aim was to investigate whether women exposed to sexual violence as teenagers (12–19 years of age) or adults present with different obstetric outcomes than women with no record of such violence. Methods: We linked detailed prospectively collected information on women attending a Rape Trauma Service (RTS) to the Icelandic Medical Birth Registry (IBR). Women who attended the RTS in 1993–2010 and delivered (on average 5.8 years later) at least one singleton infant in Iceland through 2012 formed our exposed cohort (n = 1068). For each exposed woman's delivery, nine deliveries by women with no RTS attendance were randomly selected from the IBR (n = 9126) matched on age, parity, and year and season of delivery. Information on smoking and Body mass index (BMI) was available for a sub-sample (n = 792 exposed and n = 1416 non-exposed women). Poisson regression models were used to estimate Relative Risks (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Compared with non-exposed women, exposed women presented with increased risks of maternal distress during labor and delivery (RR 1.68, 95% CI 1.01–2.79), prolonged first stage of labor (RR 1.40, 95% CI 1.03–1.88), antepartum bleeding (RR 1.95, 95% CI 1.22–3.07) and emergency instrumental delivery (RR 1.16, 95% CI 1.00–1.34). Slightly higher risks were seen for women assaulted as teenagers. Overall, we did not observe differences between the groups regarding the risk of elective cesarean section (RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.61–1.21), except for a reduced risk among those assaulted as teenagers (RR 0.56, 95% CI 0.34–0.93). Adjusting for maternal smoking and BMI in a sub-sample did not substantially affect point estimates. Conclusion: Our prospective data suggest that women with a history of sexual assault, particularly as teenagers, are at increased risks of some adverse obstetric outcomes.en-USMedicine and Health SciencesWomen's HealthMaternal HealthBirthLabor and DeliveryObstetrics and GynecologySurgical and Invasive Medical ProceduresObstetric ProceduresCesarean SectionSocial SciencesSociologyCriminologyCrimeRape and Sexual AssaultPathology and Laboratory MedicineSigns and SymptomsHemorrhageVascular MedicinePregnancyPeople and PlacesPopulation GroupingsAge GroupsAdultsBiology and Life SciencesPhysiologyPhysiological ParametersBody WeightBody Mass IndexJournal Article2016-04-0110.1371/journal.pone.0150726