Unwantedness of a pregnancy and schizophrenia of a child

Data were collected prospectively in a cohort of 11,017 individuals born in 1966. In the sixth or seventh month of pregnancy mothers were asked whether the pregnancy was wanted, mistimed but wanted or unwanted. Schizophrenia diagnoses were obtained from the Finish hospital discharge register. The risk of later schizophrenia among unwanted children was raised compared with wanted or mistimed children even after adjustment for confounding by socio-demographic, pregnancy and perinatal variables (risk multiplied by 2.4).