Table 3

Characteristics of all reported singleton pregnanciesa


Mother ever diagnosed with SLE
Mother never diagnosed with SLE




Pregnancies conceived before mother's SLE diagnosis
Pregnancies conceived after mother's SLE diagnosis
All pregnancies conceived by mothers ever diagnosed with SLE


Total number of pregnancies
274 (100%)
78 (100%)
352 (100%)
667 (100%)
Mean (standard deviation) maternal age at conception
25.0 (5.5)
30.1 (5.6)
25.6 (5.8)
26.3 (6.1)
Pregnancy type




     Live birth
224/274 (81.8%)
33/78 (42.3%)
257/352 (73.0%)
553/667 (82.9)
     Foetal death
47/274 (17.2%)
43/78 (55.1%)
90/352 (25.6%)
109/667 (16.3%)
     First-trimester miscarriage (0–12 weeks)b
28/274 (10.2%)
34/78 (43.6%)
62/352 (17.6%)
90/667 (13.4%)
     Mid-trimester miscarriage (13–23 weeks)b
3/259 (1.2%)
4/49 (8.2%)
7/315 (2.2%)
9/605 (1.5%)
     Miscarriage missing gestation
3/274 (1.1%)
1/78 (1.3%)
4/352 (1.1%)
1/667 (0.1%)
     Stillbirth (≥ 24 weeks)c
13/237 (5.5%)
4/37 (10.8%)
17/274 (6.2%)
9/562 (1.6%)
     Ectopic pregnancy
3/274 (1.1%)
2/78 (2.6%)
5/352 (1.4%)
5/667 (0.7%)
Reported gestation of live births (completed weeks)




     All pregnancies ending in live birth
224 (100%)
33 (100%)
257 (100%)
553 (100%)
     < 24 weeks
5 (2.2%)
3 (9.1%)
8 (3.1%)
20 (3.6%)
     24–31 weeks
2 (0.9%)
3 (9.1%)
5 (2.0%)
2 (0.4%)
     32–36 weeks
5 (2.2%)
1 (3.0%)
6 (2.3%)
4 (0.7%)
     All preterm (< 37 weeks)
12 (5.4%)
7 (21.2%)
19 (7.4%)
26 (4.7%)
     37–42 weeks
212 (94.6%)
26 (78.8%)
238 (92.6%)
526 (95.1%)
     42–46 weeks
0 (0%)
0 (0%)
0
1 (0.2%)
Reported gestation of foetal deaths (completed weeks)




     All pregnancies ending in foetal deathb
47 (100%)
43 (100%)
90 (100%)
109 (100%)
     < 8 weeks
17 (36.2%)
25 (58.1%)
42 (46.7%)
63 (57.8%)
     8–12 weeks
11 (23.4%)
9 (20.9%)
20 (22.2%)
28 (25.7%)
     13–15 weeks
2 (4.3%)
0 (0%)
2 (2.2%)
4 (3.7%)
     16–23 weeks
1 (2.1%)
4 (9.3%)
5 (5.6%)
5 (4.6%)
     24–36 weeks
6 (12.7%)
4 (9.3%)
10 (11.1%)
4 (3.7%)
     ≥ 37 weeks
7 (14.9%)
0 (0%)
7 (7.7%)
3 (2.8%)
     Missing gestation category
3 (6.4%)
1 (2.3%)
4 (4.4%)
2 (1.8%)

aTwin pregnancies excluded. bFour pregnancies ending in miscarriage have the gestational age missing (three conceived prior to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) diagnosis; one conceived after SLE diagnosis). cOne woman without SLE had missing stillbirth gestation.

Molokhia et al. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2007 9:R124   doi:10.1186/ar2332