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Babies born to women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are about 50 per cent more likely to be premature, Arthritis & Rheumatology reports.

Of 1,917,723 children born in Denmark between 1977 and 2008, 2,101 were born to mothers with RA diagnosed before the baby’s birth. Another 11,455 children were born to women diagnosed after giving birth (so-called ‘preclinical’ RA).

Being born to mothers with RA did not seem to influence body length or head and abdominal circumference, but the birth weight of babies of mothers with RA was, on average, 80.0g lower and the placental weight was 13.7g lighter than in controls after adjusting for confounders. In babies born to mothers with pre-clinical RA, birth and placental weights were, on average, 50.6g and 4.7g lighter respectively (the latter was not statistically significant).

Children of mothers with RA and pre-clinical RA were 48 and 32 per cent respectively more likely to be born prematurely, which might account for size difference. Whether being born to a mother with RA affects the child’s health needs further investigation.