The Intergenerational Impacts of Maternal Child Maltreatment on Adverse Neonatal Outcomes: Evidence From the I-CALM Study

Child maltreatment (CM) can have profound intergenerational impacts, with maternal CM experiences increasing the risk of adverse outcomes in the next generation. Using data from the Intergenerational Childhood Adversity and Lifetime Morbidity (I-CALM) study, we examined associations between self-reported CM and statutory child protection data, and adverse neonatal outcomes, including preterm delivery, resuscitation at birth, admission to special care nursery (SCN) or neonatal intensive care units (NICU), and morbidity within 28 days of birth. We also investigated whether risk factors identified at women's first antenatal care visit mediated these associations. The odds of preterm delivery, SCN or NICU admission units, and neonatal morbidity were significantly higher in births to women with both self-reported CM and statutory notifications. Smoking after 20 weeks' gestation partially mediated the relationship between statutory notifications and most adverse neonatal outcomes, but all other pathways were non-significant. These findings highlight several avenues for future research.