According to an article from the LA Times, those old wives’ tales about pregnancy aren’t as far fetched as we thought. Health economist Janet Currie and Hannes Schwandt of Princeton University describe how there could be a relationship between the month the child is born, birth weight and gestation period.
Currie published on Monday:
Pregnancy length and birth weight are the most commonly examined measures of infant health at birth, and… have been associated with child and adult health outcomes.
The observations showed that there would be a shorter gestation time for babies in the first half of the year, with what they have called a “sharp trough” in May.
The May trough in gestation length coincides with a higher influenza prevalence in January and February, when these babies are nearing full term, whereas the hump shape in birth weight is associated with a similar pattern in pregnancy weight gain.
In order to come up with these findings, the pair compared siblings conceived at different times of the year, from the same mother. This enabled them to keep track of the differences among mothers, education levels achieved, smoking habits, race and martial status.
By following the same mother over time, we eliminate differences in fixed maternal characteristics as an explanation for seasonal differences in health at birth.
The study showed that the average gestation time dropped partially each month between January and May.
The May trough in gestation length coincides with a higher influenza prevalence in January and February, when these babies are nearing full term, whereas the hump shape in birth weight is associated with a similar pattern in pregnancy weight gain.
For the rest of the article, click here.
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[Source: LA Times]
