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. 2018 Jun 27;18(1):268.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-018-1911-1.

Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy associated with lower incidence of preterm births: the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS)

Naomi Mitsuda  1 , Masamitsu Eitoku  2 , Keiko Yamasaki  3 , Masahiko Sakaguchi  3   4 , Kahoko Yasumitsu-Lovell  2 , Nagamasa Maeda  5 , Mikiya Fujieda  6 , Narufumi Suganuma  2 ; Japan Environment & Children’s Study (JECS) Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy associated with lower incidence of preterm births: the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS)

Naomi Mitsuda et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy (NVP) is considered to be associated with favorable fetal outcomes, such as a decreased risk for spontaneous abortion. However, the relationship between NVP and preterm births remains unknown. This study was conducted to evaluate the association between NVP and the risk of preterm births.

Methods: The dataset of a birth cohort study, the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS), was retrospectively reviewed. Participants' experience of NVP prior to 12 gestational weeks were evaluated by a questionnaire administered from 22 weeks of pregnancy to 1 month before delivery. NVP responses were elicited against four choices based on which the study population was divided into four subcohorts. Preterm birth was the main study outcome. Logistic regression analysis was used to quantify an association between NVP and risk of preterm birth.

Results: Of 96,056 women, 79,460 (82.7%) experienced some symptoms of NVP and 10,518 (10.9%) experienced severe NVP. Compared to those who did not experience NVP, women with severe NVP had lower odds for preterm birth [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.84, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.74-0.95]. An even lower OR was found among very preterm birth and extremely preterm birth (aOR 0.44, 95% CI 0.29-0.65).

Conclusion: An inverse association exists between NVP and preterm births, especially, very preterm births and extremely preterm births.

Keywords: JECS; Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy; Preterm birth.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The JECS protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board on Epidemiological Studies of the Ministry of the Environment, and the ethics committees of all participating institutions. The JECS was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and other internationally valid regulations and guidelines for research on human subjects, and with written informed consent from all participants. This study was conducted by analyzing the dataset of the JECS study. The dataset was provided to researchers/research institutions who are members of JECS research group after being anonymized by removing personally identifiable information from the original data.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart for Selection of Participants from JECS
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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