A study published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, suggests that hardships faced in childhood are often associated with health behaviours later in life, which can include smoking, depression, mood and sleep disturbances, and substance use and abuse. "Mounting research evidence suggests a relation between psychosocial stressors during pregnancy and poor pregnancy outcomes, such as low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation and preterm birth."

Emily W Harville of Tulane University, New Orleans, and colleagues studied 4,865 women who experienced at least one hardship during childhood and had at least one live birth by age 41.

Most of the women in the study had their first child in their 20s and most had one, two or three children in their lifetime. Also, about half were current or former smokers. Childhood hardships ranged from family problems with alcohol (one per cent) to fathers not taking an interest in child’s schooling (almost 30 per cent), with financial problems and minor neglect, particularly from the father, as the most common.

Of the women included in the study, in their first pregnancy, 7.9 per cent gave birth to a low birth weight baby, and 7.5 per cent gave birth more than three weeks early. Overall, 5.8 per cent of pregnancies resulted in a low birth weight baby, and 6.5 per cent resulted in pre-term birth.

Additionally, 39 per cent of women had smoked at some point during their first pregnancy.

"When results were examined by timing of exposure, family structure hardships and violence/mental health hardships most strongly influenced the birth outcomes if they happened in adolescence," the authors note.

"Overall, the highest risk for both low birth weight and pre-term birth was in those who had multiple hardships in adolescence only, but this was also a very small group."

"Our findings suggest that mothers who have experienced childhood hardship are more likely to smoke during pregnancy," the authors write. "They also more often give birth to low birth weight babies who are born prematurely, but this association may be primarily due to health behaviours and associated social class."

The authors also conclude that the findings suggest that, "there are critical periods for elevated risk, as well as a cumulative effect of hardships over time". They say further research is needed to specify pathways between childhood adversities and reproductive health outcomes.

Pic: Jeinny Solis S.