Pregnant women with migraines are more likely to develop complications related to pregnancy or labor or in newborns, according to a study presented at the recently concluded The Pregnancy Meeting, the 39th Annual Meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

The study group included 13,792,544 pregnant women who delivered between 1999 and 2015. Data for these women was obtained from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Inpatient Sample (HCUP-NIS) database of the United States. Applying the ICD-9 code 346, researchers identified 51,736 women to have migraine during pregnancy. The effects of migraine on obstetrical and neonatal outcomes were then evaluated in this retrospective cohort study.

The prevalence of migraines was observed to increase over the course of the study. The prevalence of underlying chronic condition such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity was more common in women with migraines. Many of them were also smokers.

Women with migraines were at higher risk of developing preeclampsia with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.04. The probability of other obstetrical complications such as placenta previa (OR 1.43), abruptio placenta (OR 1.16), chorioamnionitis (OR 1.20), preterm premature rupture of membranes (OR 1.17) and postpartum hemorrhage (OR 1.36) was also higher in these women. They were very likely to undergo a cesarean delivery (OR 1.16). These women also had increased odds of experiencing adverse cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction (OR 2.57), venous thromboembolism (OR 2.37) and cerebrovascular accidents (OR 11.24). Additionally, maternal death was also more common among them (OR 1.83).

Adverse neonatal outcomes were also increased in women who had migraines with OR of 1.35 for prematurity, 2.50 for congenital anomalies and 1.37 for intrauterine growth restriction.

This study illustrates higher incidence of adverse outcomes for both the mother and her child, in women who also suffer from migraines during their pregnancy. Hence, they should be regarded as “high-risk” pregnancies and closely monitored to prevent such complications from occurring.

Reference

1. Tzur A, et al. Pregnancy outcomes in women with migraines. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2022 Jan. 1;226 (1 Suppl):S109. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2021.11.195.