Children born to a mother or father with
schizophrenia are twice as likely to die within the first year of
life, new research shows.
The study,
published in the October issue of the British Journal of
Psychiatry, examined 2 million births in Sweden that took
place between 1983 and 2002, using data from a number of
population-based registers.
Previous studies have shown that women with
schizophrenia have an increased risk of negative pregnancy
outcomes. However, little is known about the risks involved if the
father has schizophrenia.
The study found that babies with a mother or
father with schizophrenia faced a doubled risk of infant mortality.
The researchers do not think there are genetic explanations for
this increased risk. This was because the study also examined the
risk of infant death if the parent had a sibling or a half-sibling
with schizophrenia. A genetic factor would be indicated if the risk
was significantly higher for full siblings compared with half
siblings, but the risk was found not to be increased.
The study also found that both mothers and
fathers with schizophrenia were found to have an increased risk of
having a baby with a low-birth weight, preterm delivery and
small-for-gestational-age births.
These increased risks were largely explained
by the fact that children of parents with schizophrenia are often
born into more adverse social environments. For example, women with
schizophrenia are more likely to smoke, and are less likely to
cohabit with their child’s father. Both women and men with
schizophrenia are also likely to be more socially disadvantaged and
have a lower level of education.
Based on the findings of this study, the
researchers from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm believe
that staff working in maternity and child care units need to be
more aware of the risks involved following a pregnancy to parents
with schizophrenia.