Background: Women with schizophrenia are at increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes. It is not known whether offspring born to fathers with schizophrenia also have an increased risk.
Aims: To evaluate paternal and maternal influences on the association between schizophrenia and pregnancy outcomes.
Method: A record linkage including 2 million births was made using Swedish population-based registers. The risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes was evaluated through logistic regression.
Results: Offspring with a mother or father with schizophrenia faced a doubled risk of infant mortality, which could not be explained by maternal behaviour alone during pregnancy. Excess infant death risk was largely attributable to post-neonatal death. Maternal factors (e.g. smoking) explained most of the other risks of adverse pregnancy outcomes among both mothers and fathers with schizophrenia.
Conclusions: The risks to offspring whose fathers had schizophrenia suggest that, in addition to maternal risk behaviour, non-optimal social and/or parenting circumstances are of importance.