Consanguineous marriages and poor pregnancy outcomes

Abstract

Objective: To examine the influence of consanguineous marriage on pregnancy outcomes and highlight the factors, such as rural region residency, unemployment, and poor education. Methodology: This prospective study used a questionnaire for women in Babylon teaching hospital and some private clinics from the 1st of June 2021 to the 1st of July 2022. Randomly, 500 women were taken, 150 of them had history of consanguineous marriage. Results: Mean age of women was 30 years; 77% were rural, 4.1% were employed, 21.6% had congenital abnormalities, 8.8% experienced recurrent miscarriages, and 10.1% suffered unexplained intrauterine mortality. 350 had no history of consanguineous marriage, a mean age of 34, 46.6% resided in rural areas, 79.3% were employed, 8.2% had congenital abnormalities, 3.4% had recurrent miscarriages, and 4% experienced unexplained intrauterine mortality. Consanguinity and rural living (p=0.0001) and employment (p=0.0001) were substantially correlated. Consanguinity was correlated with congenital abnormalities (p=0.0001), recurrent miscarriage (p=0.022), and unexplained intrauterine death (p=0.036). Conclusion: Consanguineous marriage is prevalent in our region (30%), especially in rural areas and jobless groups, which increases prenatal abnormalities, miscarriage, and intrauterine mortality.