- Adverse Childhood Experiences and Pregnant Individuals’ Health in the Perinatal Period

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), are a robust predictor of health across the lifespan. Less is known about the relation between ACEs and the health of pregnant individuals during the perinatal period. A few studies have documented that higher ACEs are associated with higher pre-pregnancy BMI, but links between ACEs and gestational weight gain and obstetric complications are mixed. The current study aimed to assess whether ACEs predict pregnant individuals’ health in the perinatal period. Pregnant individuals whose pre-pregnancy BMI was between 18.5-40 were included in the current analyses (N=190). Participants’ ACEs were measured retrospectively using the Adverse Childhood Experiences scale. Participants’ gestational weight gain, pre-pregnancy BMI, and obstetric complications were collected from medical charts. Bivariate correlations indicated that higher ACEs were associated with higher pre- pregnancy BMI (r=.219, p=.003) and lower gestational weight gain (r=-.164, p=.027). Additionally, higher pre-pregnancy BMI predicted lower gestational weight gain (r=-.178, p=.014) and a higher number of obstetric complications (r=.317, p<.001) for the pregnant individual but not the fetus. Among pregnant individuals who were not extremely under- or overweight, higher ACEs were associated with a pattern of higher pre-pregnancy BMI and lower gestational weight gain. Higher pre-pregnancy BMI, but not gestational weight gain, was associated with greater obstetric complications for the pregnant individual. The current results point to ACEs as a predictor of pregnant individuals’ perinatal health, which may have implications for long-term health, given associations between pregnancy complications and later cardiovascular risk.