Psychological trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder: risk factors and associations with birth outcomes in the Drakenstein Child Health Study

In this exploratory study, maternal trauma and PTSD were found to be highly prevalent, and preliminary evidence suggested that trauma may adversely affect fetal growth, as measured by birth head circumference. However, these findings are limited by a number of methodological weaknesses, and further studies are required to extend findings and delineate causal links and mechanisms of association.