Obstetric Care and Proneness of Offspring to Suicide as Adults: A Case-Control Study

For decades, millions of mothers have been subjected to new obstetric
procedures, but with little knowledge of the long term effects from such interventions. Such procedures might,
however, be of importance for the infant’s behavior as an adult. Jacobson and Bygdeman found that a traumatic
birth was associated with an increased risk of the infant subsequently committing suicide by violent means,
whereas giving opiates to the mother during labor seemed to reduce the risk. cases were matched with
biological siblings to avoid confounding from genetic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors. Headnote
Objective: To investigate any long term effects of traumatic birth and obstetric procedures in relation to suicide
by violent means in offspring as adults. Design: Historic prospective case-control study. Setting: Stockholm,
Sweden. Subjects: 242 adults who committed suicide by violent means from 1978 to 1995, and who were born
in one of seven hospitals in Stockholm during 1945-80, matched with 403 biological siblings born during the
same period and at the same group of hospitals.