Gynecology & Obstetrics

Obstetric complications refer to disruptions and disorders of pregnancy, labour and delivery, and the early neonatal period. Examples of such complications include prenatal drug exposure, poor maternal nutrition, minor physical anomalies (or MPAs: indicators of fetal neural maldevelopment, occurring near the end of the first trimester), and birth complications. Obstetric complications can have long-term effects on a child, including an increase in problematic behaviour. Research has identified links between obstetric complications and subsequent human aggression, and suggests that obstetric complications may elicit aggression by affecting brain development.