New Study Shows Stress Affects Pregnancy

A new study has found that in the weeks and months following 9-11, there was an increase in low birth weight babies born in and around New York City. The study, published in the journal Human Reproduction, found that in the week following the disaster, there was a 44 percent increased risk of newborn babies weighing below 3.3 pounds, and a 67 percent increase in those weighting between 3.3 and 4.4 pounds, compared to babies born three weeks before the disaster.

The rates then stabilized for a few months, but in December and January, there was another peak in low birth weight babies, and yet another in April and May. The authors postulated that the stress of 9-11 immediately caused a higher incidence of pre-term births. The second wave of low birth weight babies may have occurred because the holidays after 9-11 were an emotionally difficult and stressful time, and the third wave may have occurred because these babies were in the earliest—and most vulnerable—phase in their gestation during 9-11.

When an expectant mom is exposed to stress, those stress hormones can pass through the placenta wall and expose the baby. This can do trigger labor to begin prematurely and also initiate the final physiologic shifts toward maturity. Unfortunately rushing the process often leaves the baby with deficits that threaten its health and wellness. If you’re exposed to a stressful situation or are experiencing chronic stress, try to minimize it through stress busting activities like yoga, meditation, biofeedback, and massage.