Abstract
Background and objectives: Despite growing interest in the role of maternal psychosocial stress as a determinant of preterm birth, no existing work has examined the relation between maternal stress and post-term birth (≥42 weeks). We hypothesize that prolonging gestation past term may represent an adaptive strategy to a suboptimal environment. Methodology: We examined the relationship between exposure to the September 2001 terrorist attacks and odds of post-term birth in California. We calculated the expected odds of post-term birth among conception cohorts of singleton gestations in California between October 1996 and November 2005. We used time series analysis to test for higher than expected odds of post-term birth among the 10 cohorts exposed to the attacks of September 2001 (those conceived from December 2000 to September 2001). Results: The observed odds of post-term delivery among gestations at 33-36 weeks in September 2001 were higher than statistically expected for all race/ethnic and sex groups. Conclusions and implications: Our finding that odds of post-term birth were higher than expected among pregnancies exposed to the September 2001 terrorist attacks in late gestation provides initial support for the hypothesis that exposure to a psychosocial stress during pregnancy may result in prolonged gestation.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | eov001 |
| Pages (from-to) | 13-20 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Evolution, Medicine and Public Health |
| Volume | 2015 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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Keywords
- Critical window
- Gestation
- Growth
- Parent-offspring conflict
- Post term
- Pre-term
- Pregnancy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
Cite this
Post-term birth as a response to environmental stress : The case of September 11, 2001. / Margerison-Zilko, Claire E.; Goodman, Julia M.; Anderson, Elizabeth; Gemmill, Alison; Catalano, Ralph A.
In: Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, Vol. 2015, No. 1, eov001, 01.01.2015, p. 13-20.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Post-term birth as a response to environmental stress
T2 - The case of September 11, 2001
AU - Margerison-Zilko, Claire E.
AU - Goodman, Julia M.
AU - Anderson, Elizabeth
AU - Gemmill, Alison
AU - Catalano, Ralph A.
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - Background and objectives: Despite growing interest in the role of maternal psychosocial stress as a determinant of preterm birth, no existing work has examined the relation between maternal stress and post-term birth (≥42 weeks). We hypothesize that prolonging gestation past term may represent an adaptive strategy to a suboptimal environment. Methodology: We examined the relationship between exposure to the September 2001 terrorist attacks and odds of post-term birth in California. We calculated the expected odds of post-term birth among conception cohorts of singleton gestations in California between October 1996 and November 2005. We used time series analysis to test for higher than expected odds of post-term birth among the 10 cohorts exposed to the attacks of September 2001 (those conceived from December 2000 to September 2001). Results: The observed odds of post-term delivery among gestations at 33-36 weeks in September 2001 were higher than statistically expected for all race/ethnic and sex groups. Conclusions and implications: Our finding that odds of post-term birth were higher than expected among pregnancies exposed to the September 2001 terrorist attacks in late gestation provides initial support for the hypothesis that exposure to a psychosocial stress during pregnancy may result in prolonged gestation.
AB - Background and objectives: Despite growing interest in the role of maternal psychosocial stress as a determinant of preterm birth, no existing work has examined the relation between maternal stress and post-term birth (≥42 weeks). We hypothesize that prolonging gestation past term may represent an adaptive strategy to a suboptimal environment. Methodology: We examined the relationship between exposure to the September 2001 terrorist attacks and odds of post-term birth in California. We calculated the expected odds of post-term birth among conception cohorts of singleton gestations in California between October 1996 and November 2005. We used time series analysis to test for higher than expected odds of post-term birth among the 10 cohorts exposed to the attacks of September 2001 (those conceived from December 2000 to September 2001). Results: The observed odds of post-term delivery among gestations at 33-36 weeks in September 2001 were higher than statistically expected for all race/ethnic and sex groups. Conclusions and implications: Our finding that odds of post-term birth were higher than expected among pregnancies exposed to the September 2001 terrorist attacks in late gestation provides initial support for the hypothesis that exposure to a psychosocial stress during pregnancy may result in prolonged gestation.
KW - Critical window
KW - Gestation
KW - Growth
KW - Parent-offspring conflict
KW - Post term
KW - Pre-term
KW - Pregnancy
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84988033849&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84988033849&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/emph/eov001
DO - 10.1093/emph/eov001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84988033849
VL - 2015
SP - 13
EP - 20
JO - Evolution, Medicine and Public Health
JF - Evolution, Medicine and Public Health
SN - 2050-6201
IS - 1
M1 - eov001
ER -