Table 1 Distribution of time spent in care by the 291 mothers who reported being in selleck chemical Seliciclib care These mothers were born in previous decades, with 5% born after 1980, 42% between 1970 and 1980, 50% between 1960 and 1970 and

4% born before 1960. Mothers who had been in care were younger, less likely to achieve a high social class, less likely to have a high household income and less likely to have achieved a high level of education, compared with the rest of the cohort (table 2). They were also more likely to be a single parent, to have a larger family and to smoke during their pregnancy (table 3). These differences were all statistically significant at the 5% level. There

was no statistically significant association between ethnic group and reporting spending time in care. Although their babies were more likely to be born by normal vaginal delivery, there were no statistically significant differences in the gestation at delivery when compared to non-exposed women (table 3). Table 2 Sociodemographic characteristics of women with and without a history of being in care Table 3 Pregnancy and neonatal characteristics of women with and without a history of being in care Multivariable analysis Table 4 shows the ORs for the association between having been in care and smoking during pregnancy, breastfeeding and symptoms of postnatal depression. Women who had been in care were more likely to smoke during pregnancy (OR 3.0) compared with women who had not been in care, even after adjusting for possible confounding factors.

Their babies were more likely to have a low birth weight (OR 1.8), although this effect was not statistically significant after controlling for confounding factors. They were also less likely to initiate breastfeeding compared with women who had not been in care, although again, this effect was not statistically significant after adjusting for other factors (table 4). Women who had been in care were more likely to have symptoms of depression (OR 2.0), even after controlling for possible confounding factors. Discussion Summary of findings In our study, which represents the Drug_discovery mothers of babies born in the UK during 2001–2002, 1.6% of women in this cohort had spent some of their childhood in the care system, either with foster parents or in a children’s home. The majority of these women had spent a year or more in care. The mothers in our study who had spent some of their childhood as a looked-after child were disadvantaged in terms of social and economic factors when compared to the mothers who had not. They were more likely to smoke during their pregnancy and have symptoms of depression. This likelihood persisted after adjusting for confounding factors.