UC San Diego

Objective

The objective was to investigate maternal and pregnancy characteristics associated with neonatal encephalopathy (NE).

Study design

We queried an administrative birth cohort from California between 2011 and 2017 to determine the association between each factor and NE with and without hypothermia treatment.

Results

From 3 million infants born at 35 or more weeks of gestation, 6,857 cases of NE were identified (2.3 per 1000 births), 888 (13%) received therapeutic hypothermia. Risk factors for NE were stronger among cases receiving hypothermia therapy. Substance-related diagnosis, preexisting diabetes, preeclampsia, and any maternal infection were associated with a two-fold increase in risk. Maternal overweight/obesity, nulliparity, advanced maternal age, depression, gestational diabetes or hypertension, and short or long gestations also predicted NE. Young maternal age, Asian race and Hispanic ethnicity, and cannabis-related diagnosis lowered risk of NE.

Conclusions

By disseminating these results, we encourage further interrogation of these perinatal factors.