Antibiotic use by women before or during pregnancy heightens hospitalized infections among their children, a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
Researchers studied population-based Danish national databases for pregnancies between 1995 and 2009. They examined infants who were followed from birth until either:
• Their first hospitalization for an infection
• Death
• 14th birthday
• Emigration
• The end of 2009
The infants' mothers were exposed to maternal antibiotics prescribed before and during pregnancy.
The study shows 141,359 mothers received at least one antibiotic prescription during pregnancy and 230,886 received a prescription in the 18 months before pregnancy.
Of 776,657 live-born infants, 28.6 percent experienced an infection-related hospitalization as children. Researchers found antibiotic exposure during pregnancy was associated with increased risk of childhood infection-related hospitalization. The risk of infection-related hospitalization increased when antibiotic prescriptions were given closer to birth and in mothers receiving more antibiotics. Additionally, children whose mothers received antibiotics before but not during pregnancy also had increased risk of infection-related hospitalization.