World News

Study Says Stressed Pregnant Moms More Likely to Have a Girl

By  | 
Tony Maples Photography

 

Highlighting the importance of supporting women during their pregnancy, a study has recently been released that links the possibility of having a girl with pregnant women who are psychologically and physically stressed. NewYork-Presbyterian participated in the study completed by researchers at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Tracking 187 pregnant women, between the ages of 18 and 45, their objective was to determine how stress experienced by pregnant women influenced birth outcomes.

It was shown that approximately 105 males are born for every 100 females. However, this study identified that the ratio in the groups noted as being psychologically and physically stressed favored females. Study leader Catherine Monk of the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons explained in a statement, “The womb is an influential first home, as important as the one a child is raised in, if not more so.”

Video: abc13.com

Shared by ABC13 Eyewitness News out of Houston, Texas, the video above highlights the deep necessity to support expectant mothers as well as their partners. Monk further explained in a quote published at cuimc.columbia.edu, “Other researchers have seen this pattern after social upheavals, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, after which the relative number of male births decreased. This stress in women is likely of long-standing nature; studies have shown that males are more vulnerable to adverse prenatal environments, suggesting that highly stressed women may be less likely to give birth to a male due to the loss of prior male pregnancies, often without even knowing they were pregnant.” Ergo, the greater the social support network that an expectant mother receives, the greater the chance she has of having a baby boy, according to researchers. The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.