Loading...
Pregnant women whose military spouses are deployed in combat zones have higher stress and anxiety levels than peers whose spouses are not deployed. Might they also have worse pregnancy outcomes?
To find out, investigators conducted a prospective study of 397 randomly selected pregnant primigravid women (active-duty soldiers or spouses or dependents of active-duty soldiers) who delivered at a U.S. Army hospital. Participants were enrolled during their initial first-trimester prenatal visits and followed throughout pregnancy and postpartum. Of this cohort, 183 had spouses deployed during pregnancy, and 214 had spouses present during pregnancy.
Women with deployed spouses had a significantly higher rate of preterm delivery (<37 weeks) than those…