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Objective: The fetal programming model hypothesizes that developmental programming in utero and in early life induces adaptations that predetermine the adult phenotype. This study investigated whether prenatal/perinatal complications are associated with lifetime eating disorders in women. Method: Participants included 46,373 adult women enrolled in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (den norske Mor & barn‐undersøkelsen [MoBa]). MoBa mothers and their mothers (MoBa grandmothers) were the focus of the current study. MoBa mothers with lifetime eating disorders were compared to a referent group. Results: MoBa mothers who weighed more at birth (birth weight, adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.14; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10–1.19) or were born large‐for‐gestational‐age (adjusted OR = 1.39; 95% CI: 1.27–1.52) were more likely to develop binge‐eating disorder in later life. MoBa mothers who weighed less at birth were more likely to develop anorexia nervosa (birth weight, adjusted OR = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.81–0.95). Bulimia nervosa and purging disorder (PD) were not significantly predicted by the prenatal and perinatal factors examined. Discussion: Results of this study, which include the first known investigation of prenatal and perinatal factors in binge‐eating disorder and PD, suggest that fetal programming may be relevant to the development of anorexia nervosa and binge‐eating disorder. Future genetically informative research is needed to help disentangle whether these associations are a function of genetic influences or a true environmental fetal programming effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This prospective study aims to investigate whether severe fear of childbirth increases pain perceptions during birth and whether co‐occurring maternal health and birth factors as well as length and weight of the child explain the association. Methods: The study sample comprised women with a vaginal delivery and was drawn from the Akershus Birth Cohort. Data from the hospital birth's record and questionnaires at weeks 17‐19 and 32 of pregnancy and 8 weeks postpartum were used (n = 1649). Analysis of variance and analysis of covariance were conducted to examine whether ratings of labor pain differed significantly between women with and without severe fear of childbirth and which factors explained the difference. Results: Women with severe fear of childbirth experienced significantly more labor pain than women without severe fear of childbirth (P < .01). However, when controlling for symptoms of maternal depression and anxiety, use of epidural/spinal anesthetic or nitrous oxide gas, and menstrual pain, this difference was no longer significant (P = .09). Discussion: Although the results show that labor pain is related to multiple physiological and psychological factors in a complex manner, symptoms of maternal depression and anxiety seem to play a central role for the experience of labor pain, and should therefore be focused on by health practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]