CONTRACEPTIVES AND CONCEPTUS .1. CHROMOSOME-ABNORMALITIES OF FETUS AND NEONATE RELATED TO MATERNAL CONTRACEPTIVE HISTORY

  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 48  (1) , 40-48
Abstract
The chromosomes of 3080 products of conception, consisting primarily of newborn infants and medically induced abortions, were examined. These were from 3 major groups of women, those who had used oral contraceptives (primarily the combination types), those who had used nonhormonal contraceptives, and a control group of those who had not used any contraceptives. In the newborn study population, the chromosome abnormality rate was .54% (when cases of proven hereditary involvement are excluded the figure drops to .36%), and in the entire induced-abortion study series it was .75%. These rates are very similar to those obtained in other surveys. The rate of chromosomally abnormal conceptuses increases with increasing maternal age in both the newborn and induced-abortion groups. No statistically significant relationships were found between the observed or age-adjusted rates of chromosome abnormalities and contraceptive history (P > .10 in all cases). The use of oral contraceptives has no large effect on the risk of having a chromosomally abnormal child although the possibility of a small increase or decrease in this risk, or at most about 1.0%, cannot be ruled out because of the small number of abnormalities found.

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