Stress during pregnancy causes lower weight in babies, says study
Posted on: 22/Mar/2016 10:46:01 AM
A study has said that new born babies run the risk of being underweight if the mother to be has had a stressful time during pregnancy. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and was published in the journal Health Psychology.
Say the researchers, Most people have a high level of cortisol - a hormone the body releases in response to stressful events - when they get out of bed in the morning, and that level declines throughout the day. In some people, however, cortisol levels are low in the morning and decrease by a smaller-than-normal amount during the day. This pattern has been associated with progression of a variety of diseases, including atherosclerosis and cancer, as well as chronic stress and a history of trauma.
The study involved 142 women who were already participating in another, larger study that analysed how chronic stress affects new parents and their babies. Say the researchers, We found that the same cortisol pattern that has been linked with chronic stress is associated with delivering a baby that weighs less at birth. Low birth weight babies (less than 2.5 kilograms) have a higher-than-normal risk for infant mortality developmental and for health abnormalities throughout their lives, including cardiovascular and metabolic disorders.
