Abstract

PIP: Details are presented on the outcome of pregnancy in a group of Edinburgh women identified as positive for antibodies to HIV and in women who had a history of drug abuse or a partner known to be seropositive but who were themselves negative for HIV antibody. Pregnant women who had been tested for HIV up to June 1987 were identified. HIV state was known for 205 pregnant women. Most cases were determined during pregnancy, but in 23 (9 seropositive patients) it was determined retrospectively. Seropositivity was only found in women who had been intravenous drug users or whose partner was known seropositive. Of 50 women who were seropositive, 46 were intravenous drug users and 4 had seropositive partners. In 64 cases who were seronegative, 45 had used intravenous drugs since 1983, and 19 had a seropositive partner. These women tended to be young, unmarried, and smoked heavily. They usually lived in areas of Edinburgh with multiple deprivation. Both they and their partners were usually unemployed. In the seropositive group, spontaneous abortion showed an apparent increase, but this may be due to differences in ascertainment as the incidence in the seronegative group was low. Premature delivery, intrauterine growth retardation, and low birth weight were common compared with the total population, but seropositive and seronegative women did not differ from each other in these variables. Compared with rates in the total population of Edinburgh, the rates of prematurity and intrauterine growth retardation were increased more than 2-fold and the rate of low birthweight babies was increased nearly 4-fold, though the 1 twin pregnancy contributed to this. Adverse outcome was equally distributed between the seropositive and seronegative women, and there was no suggestion that infection with HIV itself had any effect. Although no evidence from this study shows that infection with HIV per se affects the outcome of pregnancy, none of these women showed symptomatic illness.