Impact of prenatal maternal stress on birth anthropometrics and pregnancy outcomes in rural Ghana
Year: 2019
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: TPS 723: Low and middle income countries: sanitation infections and other health effects, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 26, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background/Aim: In developed countries, prenatal maternal stress has been associated with impaired fetal growth, however this has not been evaluated in rural sub-Saharan Africa. We evaluated the effect of prenatal maternal stress on fetal growth and birth outcomes in rural Ghana. Methods: Leveraging a prospective, rural Ghanaian birth cohort, we ascertained prenatal maternal negative life events, categorized scores as 0-2 (low stress; referent), 3-5 (moderate), and >5 (high) among 353 pregnant women in the Kintampo North Municipality and Kintampo South District located within the middle belt of Ghana. We employed linear regression to determine associations between prenatal maternal stress and infant birth weight, head circumference, and length measured within 24 hours of birth. We additionally examined associations between prenatal maternal stress and adverse birth outcomes, including low birth weight, small for gestational age, and stillbirth using logistic regression. Models were adjusted for maternal age, weight, height, socioeconomic status, marital status, ethnicity, infant sex, and intervention cluster. . Effect modification by infant sex was examined. Results: Compared with low prenatal maternal stress, high stress was associated with reduced birth length (β=-0.91 cm, p=0.04; p-value for trend=0.04) for all infants. Among female infants, moderate and high prenatal maternal stress were both associated with reduced birth weight (β=-0.16 kg, p=0.02; β=-0.18, p=0.04 respectively; p-value for trend=0.04) and head circumference (β =-0.66 cm, p=0.05; β=-1.02, p=0.01 respectively; p-value for trend=0.01). In female infants, high prenatal stress increased odds of a composite of adverse birth outcomes (OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.01-5.75; p for interaction=0.04). Conclusions: In this rural Ghanaian cohort, our data suggests that prenatal maternal stress may negatively impact fetal growth and pregnancy outcomes in all infants, especially for female infants. Understanding risk factors for impaired fetal growth may help develop preventative health strategies for future public health interventions
Source: Environmental Epidemiology
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,200
OpenAlex ID: W2981443818