Background:
Despite major improvements in access to prenatal care, little progress in the improvement of pregnancy outcomes has occurred in the U.S. over the past decade. Health care providers have increasingly recognized that such outcomes are greatly influenced by a woman's health status and lifestyle prior to conception. Moreover, women of reproductive age may suffer from a variety of chronic conditions that potentially contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes.


Objectives:
• Among the 2003 birth cohort, to quantify the number of women 20 years of age and older who were hospitalized with selected chronic conditions between 2000-2002
• To assess whether pre-pregnancy hospitalizations for selected chronic conditions are associated with pregnancy outcomes


Methods:
2003 California hospital discharge data, births, fetal and infant deaths were linked to the hospital discharge data for the time period of 2000-2002. ICD9-CM diagnostic codes were used to identify the following chronic conditions: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, asthma, cerebrovascular disease, obesity, mental disorders, and seizure disorders. In the total study population, two main groups were identified: women hospitalized with a condition of interest but not for a delivery in the three years prior to giving birth in 2003, and women with no hospitalizations for any reason in the three years prior to giving birth in 2003. Outcomes to be examined will include birth weight and fetal and infant mortality. Multivariate regression models will be used in further analysis.


Results:
This study is currently in progress.


Conclusion and implications for practice:
This is the first study to use hospitalizations in population-based, linked datasets during the preconception period as an indicator of preconception health status. Using such datasets may be a valuable tool in assessing preconception health status and its associated birth outcomes.