Compared to earlier days, nowadays, women prefer working longer into pregnancy. But, according to a new study, the trend can have a negative impact on the growth of the baby.
Researchers from the University of Essex found pregnant women working during last stages of pregnancy, particularly after eight months of pregnancy, at a higher risk of having babies with a lower birth weight. Findings based on data from three major studies, showed the effect equivalent to that of smoking while pregnant.
For the study, the investigators looked at more than 1300 children from the British Household Panel Survey. They also examined another British study including nearly 17,500 mothers giving births in 2000 or 2001. The third data that included 12,166 mothers came from the National Survey of Family Growth in U.S., Daily Mail reported.
Researchers found maternal work during last stages of pregnancy paving the way for giving birth to small babies, 230g or 0.5lb lighter than those who discontinued work between six and eight months.
The trend affected children of old mothers' than young mothers below 24 years.
"We know low birth weight is a predictor of many things that happen later, including lower chances of completing school successfully, lower wages and higher mortality," Daily Mail quoted Professor Marco Francesconi, as saying.
"We need to think seriously about parental leave, because - as this study suggests - the possible benefits of taking leave flexibly before the birth could be quite high."
A birth weight lower than 2,500 grams is considered as low birth weight. Babies born with low birth weight are at a higher risk of having a wide range of health problems like learning problems, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy and vision and hearing loss, according to the health experts from marchofdimes.com.
Another study published in The Journal of Pediatrics recently found premature and small babies, weighing 3.3 or below more prone to develop autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than others.
