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Women who are exposed to severe emotional stress during the first
trimester of pregnancy are more likely to have children with birth
defects, according to new research.
Researchers examined the medical records of more than 3,500 women
who were exposed before or during pregnancy to extreme stress due
to a male partner or older child being diagnosed with cancer, having
a heart attack, or dying.
They then compared the incidence of birth defects with the incidence
in a 'control' group of more than 20,000 women who had not been
exposed to these events.
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About 1.18% of pregnancies in women under extreme stress resulted
in an infant with a birth defect.
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About 0.65% of all pregnancies resulted in an infant with such
malformations.
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This corresponds to a greater than 80% increased risk.
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For women experiencing the death of an older child during early
pregnancy the risk increased almost 5-fold and if the death
of the older child was unexpected the risk increased more than
8-fold.
Because stress affects many of the body's systems, including the
nervous system, cardiovascular system, endocrine system, and immune
system, there is good reason to suspect that severe emotional stress
could cause defects, especially during the early stages of pregnancy
when development in occurring at the fastest rate, researchers explain.
Babies born to the severe-stress group of women were more likely
to have defects of the cranial nerve crest, a structure of cells
that is thought to contribute to the development of the head and
face, such as the skull, palate, teeth, nose, parts of the eyes,
ears, throat and heart.
The Lancet September 9, 2000;356:875-880
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