ArticleBMJ open2019
Use of biologics during pregnancy and risk of serious infections in the mother and baby: a Canadian population-based cohort study.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- British Society for Rheumatology guideline on prescribing drugs in pregnancy and breastfeeding: immunomodulatory anti-rheumatic drugs and corticosteroids.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2023Guideline
- Fetal and maternal outcomes after maternal biologic use during conception and pregnancy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.BJOG : an international journal of obstetrics and gynaecology · 2022Pooled it
- Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors and Risk of Serious Infections in Pregnant Women With Chronic Inflammatory Diseases.ACR open rheumatology · 2025Article
- Psoriasis: Considerations for the Management of Women of Childbearing Potential.American journal of clinical dermatology · 2025Review
- Pregnancy Outcomes of Targeted Synthetic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs Among Patients With Autoimmune Diseases: A Scoping Review.Arthritis care & research · 2025Article
- Use of Biologics During Pregnancy Among Patients With Autoimmune Conditions.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Prenatal Exposure to Proton Pump Inhibitors and Risk of Serious Infections in Offspring During the First Year of Life: A Nationwide Cohort Study.Drug safety · 2025Article
- In Utero Exposure to Antibiotics and Risk of Serious Infections in the First Year of Life.Drug safety · 2024Article
- Observational
- Can we more precisely classify exposure to antenatal depression and anxiety in multivariable prediction models of pregnancy and birth outcomes: a population-based cohort study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Safety of Live-Attenuated Vaccines in Children Exposed to Biologic Response Modifiers in Utero.Pediatrics · 2022Article
- Outcomes following biosimilar TNF inhibitor use for inflammatory-mediated immune disorders in pregnancy.Obstetric medicine · 2022Article
- Review
- The use and impact of monoclonal antibody biologics during pregnancy.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2021Review
- Safety Prediction of Infants Born to Mothers with Crohn's Disease Treated with Biological Agents in the Late Gestation Period.Journal of the anus, rectum and colon · 2021Article
- Pregnancy outcomes and perinatal complications of Asian mothers with juvenile idiopathic arthritis - a case-control registry study.Pediatric rheumatology online journal · 2020Article
- Pregnancy outcomes in juvenile idiopathic arthritis: systematic review and meta-analysis.Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo investigate the association between exposure to biologics during pregnancy and serious infections in mothers and infants.
designRetrospective cohort study.
settingPopulation-based.
participantsWomen with one or more autoimmune diseases identified by International Classification of Diseases 9th/10th revision codes in healthcare administrative databases in British Columbia, Canada, who had pregnancies ending in a live or stillbirth between 1 January 2002 and 31 December 2012. Women were defined as exposed if they had at least one biologic prescription during pregnancy, and infants born to these women were considered exposed in utero. Disease-matched women with no biologics prescriptions during pregnancy, and their infants, comprised the unexposed groups. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Serious infections requiring hospitalisation.
resultsOver the 10-year study period, there were 6218 women (8607 pregnancies) who had an autoimmune disease diagnosis, of which 90 women were exposed to biologics during pregnancy, with 100 babies born to these women. Among women exposed to biologics during pregnancy, occurrence of serious postpartum infections were low, ranging from 0% to 5%, depending on concomitant exposures to immunosuppressants. In multivariable models using logistic regression, the OR for the association of biologics exposure with serious maternal postpartum infections was 0.79 (95% CI 0.24 to 2.54). In infants exposed to biologics in utero, occurrence of serious infections during the first year of life ranged from 0% to 7%, depending on concomitant exposures to immunosuppressants in utero. Multivariable models showed no association between biologics exposure in utero and serious infant infections (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.17 to 1.81).
conclusionsThese population-based data suggest that the use of biologics by women with autoimmune diseases during pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk of serious infections in mothers, during post partum or in infants during the first year of life.
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