In the first study of its kind, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have found significantly lower birth weights in male infants -- an average decrease of 38 grams, or approximately 1.3 ounces -- born to women who had been exposed to trauma at some point in their lives and who secreted higher levels of cortisol, a hormone related to stress, in late pregnancy.
The study will be published online on Tuesday, September 18, at 12:01 am EDT in The Journal of Pediatrics.
Only women who had both a history of trauma and higher levels of cortisol secretion experienced lower birth weights; trauma alone was not sufficient. The association was also only seen among male babies. This is consistent with other data that shows that male fetuses are more susceptible to effects of maternal stress on intrauterine growth.
[For more on this study by The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine, go to https://www.sciencedaily.com/r.../09/180918082107.htm]
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