Influence of work during pregnancy on fetal weight.

To discover the influence of maternal work upon fetal birth weight, we compared 1,140 women who worked during pregnancy to a random, equal sample of women not working during pregnancy. Work during pregnancy appears to reduce the mean fetal weight in both primigravidas and multigravidas . Rest during the last six weeks of pregnancy improves fetal weight significantly. This finding underscores the importance of rest in cases of insufficient fetal growth.