Parental attitudes about a pregnancy predict birth weight in a low-income population

BACKGROUND Low birth weight remains the primary cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in the United States. We examined whether maternal happinesss happiness, predicts about a pregnancy, in addition to her report of the father birth weight and risk for low birth weight (< 2,500 g). METHODS In this prospective cohort study, the mother's report of her and her partner's happiness about the pregnancy was measured before 21 weeks' gestation on a scale from 1 to10 (1 to 3 unhappy, 4 to 7 ambivalent, or 8 to 10 occurred when the mother perceived happy). Mother reports partner happier the father's happiness score at least 5 points greater than her own. information on birth weights and maternal sociodemographic, medical, and psychosocial factors were obtained from surveys and medical records. RESULTS Of 162 live births, 9 were low birth weight (5.6%). Compared with women who reported happiness with the pregnancy, risk for low birth weight was greater when the mother reported partner happier about the pregnancy (relative risk 10.0, 95% confidence interval, 3.1-32.4). T. his predictor of birth weight remained significant in multivariate linear regression analyses (coefficient = -472 g, SE = 171 g, P =.007) after adjustment for other known predictors of birth weight. CONCLUSIONS Maternal report of greater partner happiness about a pregnancy is associated with birth weight and appears to define low- and high-risk subgroups for low birth weight in a low-income population. Further study in larger samples is needed to confirm our findings and to assess whether maternal report of greater partner happiness is itself a modifiable factor or is a marker tor other factors that might be modified with targeted interventions.