Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jul 1;24(7):1309-16.
doi: 10.1177/0956797612468010. Epub 2013 May 7.

Maternal stress and infant mortality: the importance of the preconception period

Quetzal A Class  1 , Ali S Khashan, Paul Lichtenstein, Niklas Långström, Brian M D'Onofrio
Affiliations

Maternal stress and infant mortality: the importance of the preconception period

Quetzal A Class et al. Psychol Sci. .

Abstract

Although preconception and prenatal maternal stress are associated with adverse outcomes in birth and childhood, their relation to infant mortality remains uncertain. We used logistic regression to study infant mortality risk following maternal stress within a population-based sample of infants born in Sweden between 1973 and 2008 (N = 3,055,361). Preconception (6-0 months before conception) and prenatal (between conception and birth) stress were defined as death of a first-degree relative of the mother. A total of 20,651 offspring were exposed to preconception stress, 26,731 offspring were exposed to prenatal stress, and 8,398 cases of infant mortality were identified. Preconception stress increased the risk of infant mortality independently of measured covariates, and this association was timing specific and robust across low-risk groups. Prenatal stress did not increase risk of infant mortality. These results suggest that the period immediately before conception may be a sensitive developmental period with ramifications for infant mortality risk.

Keywords: bereavement; health; infant development; infant mortality; maternal stress; preconception; prenatal; stress reactions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Risk (adjusted odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals) of infant mortality following maternal stress exposure in the 18-13 month, 12-7 month, and 6-0 month preconception period as well as the prenatal period as examined in main and sensitivity analyses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Altman M, Bonamy AE, Wilkstrom A, Cnattingius S. Cause-specific infant mortality in a population-based Swedish study of term and post-term births: the contribution of gestational age and birth weight. British Medical Journal Open. 2012:1–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Berghella V, Buchanan E, Pereira L, Baxter JK. Preconception care. Obstetrical and Gynecological Survey. 2010;65(2):119–131. - PubMed
    1. Catov JM, Bodnar LM, Olsen J, Olsen S, Nohr EA. Periconception multivitamin use and risk for preterm or small-for-gestational-age births in the Danish National Birth Cohort. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2011;94:906–912. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook 2009. 2009 Retrieved May 10, 2012, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/20....
    1. Chmurzynska A. Fetal programming: link between early nutrition, DNA methylation, and complex diseases. Nutrition Reviews. 2010;68(2):87–98. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources