Abstract
Objective We sought to evaluate whether maternal antepartum infection (excluding chorioamnionitis)
is associated with cerebral palsy (CP).
Study Design This is a secondary analysis from a multicenter trial in women at risk of preterm
delivery who received antenatal magnesium sulfate versus placebo. We compared the
risk of CP in the children of women who had evidence of antepartum infection over
the course of pregnancy to those women who had no evidence of antepartum infection
during pregnancy.
Results Within a cohort of 2,251 women who met our inclusion criteria, 1,350 women had no
history of infection in pregnancy and 801 women had a history of some type of antepartum
infection during pregnancy. The incidence of CP was similar between the two groups
(4.9 vs 5.0%; p = 0.917). After adjustment for maternal and obstetric confounders, we observed no
significantly increased risk of CP among infants born to women with evidence of antepartum
infection; (adjusted relative risk [aRR], 1.09 (0.72, 1.66); p = 0.68).
Conclusion Compared with women with no evidence of antepartum infection during pregnancy, those
women with infections excluding chorioamnionitis may not be at an increased risk of
delivering an infant with CP.
Keywords
infection - cerebral palsy - prematurity - pregnancy
