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New studies are conducted every other day on various aspects related to pregnancy. From the pregnancy diet to factors determining the child’s development, the list is never-ending. The latest one is quite intriguing. Who would have thought pregnancy and the height of a mother could be related in any way? Turns out, a new study suggests that a pregnant woman’s stature may be a determining factor of her pregnancy period. Before you jump out of your skin, let’s dig a bit deeper.
What Is Preterm Birth?
Preterm birth refers to a baby who is born prematurely. A baby who is born early, that is, before completing 37 weeks of pregnancy is said to be born preterm or premature. Early the time of birth from the due date, more the number of complications. Preterm babies are smaller compared to other babies. They might have to stay longer in the hospital and need extra attention and care (1). Your baby might be put in a neonatal intensive care unit to get special care.
Wait, What?
Two studies were conducted to find out if the height of a woman will influence the gestation period of the baby. And if that is the case, women who are short will be at a higher risk of delivering premature babies.
What The Study Says.
A study conducted on the data based on nearly 3,500 Nordic women and their infants suggests that the height of the mothers does influence their pregnancy, and preterm birth (2). Researcher, Dr. Louis Muglia, who is an investigator with the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center Ohio Collaborative, says that the maternal height is directly related to how long a woman is pregnant. It’s yet to be found as to what causes this to happen. Not just the unknown genes, but the mother’s lifetime nutrition and environment could also play a role in the pregnancy of a woman, says Muglia in a release of March of Dimes (3). This study was published online on 18th August 2015. Though they have established an association between short maternal height and preterm birth, women with small stature need not worry as there might be other factors involved to cause this effect. Preterm birth is one of the major cause of concern in the United States. There is an estimated case of higher than 450,000 babies born prematurely every year. Dr. Muglia also states that the United States has the worst case of preterm births compared to the rest of the developed nations.
Another study which was published on 21st April 2016 examined 192,432 Swedish women to find the relation between women with short stature and shorter pregnancies. Continuous association of maternal height and the likelihood of shorter pregnancies were studied. The data was taken from the Swedish Medical Birth Register. It was found that for every 1 cm decrease in height of the woman, the gestational age of the baby was reduced by 0.2 days (4). So, a woman with very short stature is at a higher risk of delivering a preterm infant, born before 32 weeks. The odds of a woman having a smaller pregnancy duration was much higher among women of short stature and the lowest among women of tall stature.
Bottom Line
The senior vice president of March of Dimes for the research and global programs, Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson, says that the aim of the organization is to find the genes that influence the growth of the baby and the pregnancy period. In the latest release, he said that the maternal height is related to the length of the pregnancy contrary to the genes that are passed on the fetus (5).
Having said this, remember that not all babies who are born prematurely will have complications. And even if they do, with today’s advanced medical technology, your baby is likely to live a happy and healthy life.
