PEDIATRICS Vol. 76 No. 3 September 1985, pp. 371-374
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Subsequent Pregnancy in Mothers of Infants with Congenital Heart Disease

Judith D. Rubin MD, MPH1 and Charlotte Ferencz MD, MPH1

1 From the Departments of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine and of Pediatrics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore

Pregnancy rates for mothers of infants with conotruncal cardiac malformations and mothers of healthy control infants were compared for a 3-year period. Mothers of infants who died of congenital heart disease had the highest pregnancy rates, followed by control mothers, and then by mothers of surviving infants with congenital heart disease. Comparison in relation to the number of living children showed similar subsequent pregnancy rates for mothers of deceased infants with congenital heart disease and mothers of control infants, but lower rates for mothers of surviving infants with congenital heart disease. "Replacement" of a deceased infant occurs frequently, apparently in order to achieve a desired family size, whereas decreased reproduction in families of living infants with congenital heart disease may reflect the psychosocial and economic impact of the continuing care of a child with severe heart disease.

Key Words: congenital heart disease • counseling • infant death • pregnancy

Submitted on June 11, 1984
Accepted on August 6, 1984