Researchers find evidence linking stress caused by the Sept. 11 disaster with low bir...(re often not accurate and the associatio...)

Date:10/10/2007

re often not accurate, and the associations we are seeing with birth weight likely reflect shorter gestation and earlier births, rather than a reduction in foetal growth, explained Prof Eskenazi, who is Professor of Maternal and Child Health and Epidemiology and Director of the Center for Childrens Environmental Health at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, USA.

Overall, moderately pre-term births (32-36 weeks) were reduced in both areas for the first month post-9/11. We think that probably the most vulnerable foetuses were miscarried or born prematurely in that first week after 9/11, leaving behind those who were the strongest, said Prof Eskenazi. Another possibility is that one response to stress might be to hold onto the foetus and to deliver later.

At Christmas/New Year and around April/May, the researchers found another increase in the odds of LBW. These periods were when, at the time of the disaster, the babies would have been in either their first or second trimester of gestation or being conceived.

In NYC there was a 36% increased risk of babies being born weighing less than 1,500g in December 2001, and a 28% increased risk in January 2002. In upstate NY, there was a similar peak around the new year, with a 46% increased risk in January of LBW less than 1,500g. In the April/May period in NYC there was a 29% increased risk, and a 32% increased risk in upstate NY.

We think that the increased incidence in low birth weights is mainly due to stress-initiated early deliveries. We had hypothesised that women further away from the disaster might have less stress associated with the event. We observed immediate effects in NYC, but longer-term effects both in NYC and upstate, said Prof Eskenazi. This may indicate that higher levels of stress are necessary to induce acute effects on birth outcome, such as early delivery with the consequent low birth weight, but that, in the longer term, women in both loca
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Contact: Emma Mason wordmason@mac.com 44-077-112-96986 European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology Source:Eurekalert

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