Impact of maternal prenatal psychological stress on birth weight.

OBJECTIVE

The study aimed to evaluate the impact of prenatal maternal stress on birth weight using a large cohort of predominantly White women living in an urban area.

METHOD

Women were recruited between 2005 and 2010. Data collection took place between the 24th and the 28th week of gestation. The Measure of Psychological Stress (MSP-9), a validated tool to assess stress symptoms, was used to collect data on prenatal maternal stress (independent variable). Birth weight (dependent variable) was classified as low birth weight (<2,500 g), normal birth weight (2,500-4,000 g), and macrosomia (>4,000 g). Adjusted odds ratios (aOR) were obtained after performing multivariate logistic regressions adjusted for potential cofounders. At the final stage, 5,721 women were included in analysis.

RESULTS

When compared with women experiencing low stress, participants with high stress scores were at increased risk of delivering a newborn with low birth weight before adjustment (OR = 2.06, 95% CI [1.04, 4.09]), but after adjustment, only a nonsignificant trend remained. However, women experiencing intermediate and high levels of stress were at increased risk of delivering a newborn with macrosomia, even after adjustment (aOR = 1.23, [1.02, 1.49]) and (aOR = 1.76, [1.11, 2.77]) compared to those who scored low on the psychological stress scale.

CONCLUSION

Women exposed to high psychological stress during the second trimester (24th to 28th weeks) of pregnancy have a 1.8-fold increased risk for delivering a newborn with macrosomia when compared to women exposed to low psychological stress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).