Perinatal risk factors for inflammatory bowel disease; a case control study

Analysis of the birth records of 257 cases of inflammatory bowel disease born at the University Hospital in Uppsala County from 1924 to 1957, compared with records for 514 controls delivered at the same hospital. The occurrence of any health event in the perinatal period increases the risk of ulcerative colitis more than three fold and that of Crohn's disease more than eight fold. Among infectious events both prenatal and post natal events increase the risk and among non infectious events both jaundice and other events increase this risk.