Effects of Stress and Non-Stress During Pregnancy: The Relation Between Birth Weights

Chronic stress during pregnancy may lead to premature births, negative health and behavioral problems for the child. There is a considerable amount of data indicating that prenatal maternal stress may effect the birth weight of a baby and may cause further problems down the road. Women who were more optimistic delivered infants who were considerably heavier, whereas women who were more stressed had babies who weighed less. These results show that there is a steady trend in the relationship between stress during pregnancy and the overall health of the baby. This experiment was conducted…