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Day two of David Pecker testimony wraps in NY Trump trial; Supreme Court hears arguments on Idaho's near-total abortion ban; ND sees a flurry of campaigning among Native candidates; and NH lags behind other states in restricting firearms at polling sites.

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The Senate moves forward with a foreign aid package. A North Carolina judge overturns an aged law penalizing released felons. And child protection groups call a Texas immigration policy traumatic for kids.

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Wyoming needs more educators who can teach kids trade skills, a proposal to open 40-thousand acres of an Ohio forest to fracking has environmental advocates alarmed and rural communities lure bicyclists with state-of-the-art bike trail systems.

Ohio Research Links Low Birth Weight to Poverty, Stress

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Monday, May 15, 2017   

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Motherhood is certainly known for being stressful, but the worries of lower-income moms-to-be might contribute to poor birth outcomes.

Researchers from The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center assessed financial strain, depressive symptoms, anxiety and pregnancy-specific stress among 138 pregnant women, and then reviewed the surveys after their babies were born.

Lead author Amanda Mitchell says prior studies have shown a greater risk of low-birth weights among socioeconomically disadvantaged mothers. And these new findings reveal specific pregnancy-related worries also play a factor.

"Taking care of a newborn infant, or what would happen during labor and delivery, or how the infant might change their life – that particular type of distress was kind of the reason that greater financial stress in pregnant women was associated with delivering babies of lower birth weight," she states.

Babies born below 5 pounds, 8 ounces are defined as low-birth-weight, and can suffer from serious health problems and spend their first weeks or months in intensive care. More than 8 percent of babies born in Ohio are underweight at birth.

Mitchell says some pregnant women may find they're able to navigate stress with coping strategies like meditation or breathing exercises. But she advises any woman experiencing stress during their pregnancy to seek help from her OB-GYN or another medical professional.

"The hope is that psychological interventions that address pregnancy-specific concerns would actually help reduce the effects of financial stress on birth weight,” she explains. “So if we can support women in those worries, we might actually help reduce the effect that financial stress has on birth weight."

Mitchell notes researchers are also studying blood biomarkers that might explain biological changes that could be linked to low-birth weight.

This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded by the George Gund Foundation.


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