Poddar D, Maude G H, Plant M J, Scorer H, Serjeant G R
Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1986 Jul;93(7):727-32.
The outcome of 664 pregnancies in 297 Jamaican women with homozygous sickle cell (SS) disease over the period 1959-1984 was reviewed. Overall, the spontaneous abortion rate was 118 per 1000 pregnancies, the stillbirth rate 128 per 1000 births, and perinatal mortality 171 per 1000 births. There was a striking secular increase in both spontaneous abortions and stillbirths which was accounted for, in part, by a trend for abortions to increase with maternal age up to the age of 30 years, a greater proportion of patients in the high-risk 25-29 year age group occurring in the 1980-1984 period. Another factor contributing to the poor obstetric performance in the 1980-1984 period was probably an increased survival and pregnancy rate in high-risk patients. Seven women had pregnancy-related deaths giving a pregnancy mortality rate of 1.1%.
