Maternal stressful life events prior to conception and the impact on infant birth weight in the United States.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We sought to determine if and to what extent a woman's exposure to stressful life events prior to conception (PSLEs) were associated with subsequent infant birth weight by using a nationally representative sample of US women.

Methods

We examined 9350 mothers and infants participating in the first wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort in 2001. Weighted regressions estimated the effect of exposure on very low and low birth weight, adjusting for maternal sociodemographic and health factors and stress during pregnancy.

Results

Twenty percent of women experienced any PSLE. In adjusted analyses, exposed women were 38% more likely to have a very low birth weight infant than nonexposed women. Furthermore, the accumulation of PSLEs was associa

SUBMITTER: Witt WP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3975462 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature