scholarly journals Maternal education and offspring birth weight for gestational age: the mediating effect of smoking during pregnancy

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 1001-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélie Nakamura ◽  
Laura Pryor ◽  
Morgane Ballon ◽  
Sandrine Lioret ◽  
Barbara Heude ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Small for gestational age (SGA) birth weight, a risk factor for infant mortality and delayed child development, is associated with maternal educational attainment. Maternal tobacco smoking during pregnancy could contribute to this association. We aimed to quantify the contribution of maternal smoking during pregnancy to social inequalities in child birth weight for gestational age (GA). Methods Data come from the French nation-wide ELFE cohort study, which included 17 155 singletons. Birth weights for GA were calculated using z-scores. Associations between maternal educational attainment, tobacco smoking during pregnancy and child birth weight for GA were ascertained using mediation analysis. Mediation analyses were also stratified by maternal pre-pregnancy body mass index. Results Low maternal educational attainment was associated with an increased odd of tobacco smoking during pregnancy [adjusted OR (ORa) = 2.58 (95% CI 2.34–2.84)] as well as a decrease in child birth weight for GA [RRa = 0.94 (95% CI 0.91–0.98)]. Tobacco smoking during pregnancy was associated with a decrease in offspring birth weight for GA [RRa = 0.73 (95% CI 0.70–0.76)]. Mediation analysis suggests that 39% of the effect of low maternal educational attainment on offspring birth weight for GA was mediated by smoking during pregnancy. A more important direct effect of maternal educational attainment on child birth weight for GA was observed among underweight women [RRa = 0.82 (95% CI 0.72–0.93)]. Conclusions The relationship between maternal educational attainment and child birth weight for GA is strongly mediated by smoking during pregnancy. Reducing maternal smoking could lessen the occurrence of infant SGA and decrease socioeconomic inequalities in birth weight for GA.

Twin Research ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 123-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline GM van Baal ◽  
Dorret I Boomsma

AbstractBirth weight is in large extent influenced by gestational age. In addition genetic and environmental factors determine intrauterine growth and birth weight. The contributions of these factors may be influenced by maternal smoking during pregnancy. We examined birth weight and maternal smoking in a sample of 2930 twin pairs from the Netherlands Twin Register using structural equation modelling. Gestational age accounted for 27–44% of the variance in birth weight. A lower variability of birth weight and a lower association of birth weight with gestational age was found in twins whose mothers smoked during pregnancy. The variance not associated with gestational age was independent of maternal smoking during pregnancy. A systematic smaller part of the variability in birth weight was associated with variability in gestational age in second born twins compared to first born twins. The heritability of interindividual differences in birth weight was modest (10% for twins with non-smoking mothers and 11% for twins with smoking mothers). Common environmental influences other than gestational age accounted for a slightly larger part of the variance not associated with gestational age (17–20%).


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael R Hussey ◽  
Amber Burt ◽  
Maya A Deyssenroth ◽  
Brian P Jackson ◽  
Ke Hao ◽  
...  

Abstract Heavy metal exposures, such as cadmium, can have negative effects on infant birth weight (BW)—among other developmental outcomes—with placental dysfunction potentially playing a role in these effects. In this study, we examined how differential placental expression of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) may be associated with cadmium levels in placenta and whether differences in the expression of those lncRNAs were associated with fetal growth. In the Rhode Island Child Health Study, we used data from Illumina HiSeq whole transcriptome RNA sequencing (n = 199) to examine association between lncRNA expression and measures of infant BW as well as placental cadmium concentrations controlled for appropriate covariates. Of the 1191 lncRNAs sequenced, 46 demonstrated associations (q < 0.05) with BW in models controlling for infant sex, maternal age, BMI, maternal education, and smoking during pregnancy. Furthermore, four of these transcripts were associated with placental cadmium concentrations, with MIR22HG and ERVH48-1 demonstrating increases in expression associated with increasing cadmium exposure and elevated odds of small for gestational age birth, while AC114763.2 and LINC02595 demonstrated reduced expression associated with cadmium, but elevated odds of large for gestational age birth with increasing expression. We identified relationships between lncRNA expression with both placental cadmium concentrations and BW. This study provides evidence that disrupted placental expression of lncRNAs may be a part of cadmium’s mechanisms of reproductive toxicity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-225
Author(s):  
Alice Mannocci ◽  
Claudia Vaschetto ◽  
Leda Semyonov ◽  
Giuseppina Poppa ◽  
Azzurra Massimi ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction. 15 to 25% of women smoke during pregnancy. Scientific evidence suggests that exposure to smoking causes decreased birth weight. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between smoking during pregnancy, maternal sociodemographic characteristics, and low birth weight. Methods. Data were derived from 1572 questionnaires administered to each woman that gave birth at the Gynecology Teaching Hospital “S. Anna” in Turin (Italy) during the period from 2008 to 2010. Multiple logistic analysis was used to evaluate the association between socio-demographic characteristics and birth weight; the stepwise approach with a “backward elimination” procedure was followed, and the goodness of fit of the model was estimated using the Hosmer-Lemeshow test. Results. The univariate analysis revealed that smoking cigarettes (17%), having a lower educational level (13%), and female sex of the infant (13%) seem to be risk factors, as they increase the risk of having a low birth weight child. Logistic regression analysis showed that gestational age and maternal smoking are the statistically associated variables. Conclusions. The results confirmed that birth weight increases proportionally with the length of the gestational age and that maternal smoking and the child’s sex (female) increase the risk of having a lower birth weight. Logistic regression demonstrated that the association between maternal smoking and low birth weight shows an increased risk for the whole population (OR=2.85), for male (OR=3.45) and for female newborns (OR=2.44)


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tian Xie ◽  
Fahimeh Falahi ◽  
Tabea Schmidt‐Ott ◽  
Tanja G. M. Vrijkotte ◽  
Eva Corpeleijn ◽  
...  

Background There is still uncertainty about the nature and relative impact of early determinants on childhood blood pressure. This study explored determinants of blood pressure at the age of 6 years in 2 Dutch birth cohorts. Methods and Results Results of hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses in GECKO (Groningen Expert Center for Kids With Obesity) Drenthe study (n=1613) were replicated in ABCD (Amsterdam Born Children and Their Development) study (n=2052). All analyses were adjusted for child's age, sex, height, and body mass index (BMI), and maternal education and subsequently performed in the combined sample. No associations were found between maternal smoking during pregnancy and childhood blood pressure. In the total sample, maternal prepregnancy BMI was positively associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) (β [95% CI], 0.09 [0.02–0.16] mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (β [95% CI], 0.11 [0.04–0.17] mm Hg). Children of women with hypertension had higher SBP (β [95% CI], 0.98 [0.17–1.79] mm Hg). Birth weight standardized for gestational age was inversely associated with SBP (β [95% CI], −6.93 [−9.25 to −4.61] mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (β [95% CI], −3.65 [−5.70 to −1.61] mm Hg). Longer gestational age was associated with lower SBP (β [95% CI] per week, −0.25 [−0.42 to −0.08] mm Hg). Breastfeeding for 1 to 3 months was associated with lower SBP (β [95% CI], −0.96 [−1.82 to −0.09] mm Hg) compared with no or <1 month of breastfeeding. Early BMI gain from the age of 2 to 6 years was positively associated with SBP (β [95% CI], 0.41 [0.08–0.74] mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (β [95% CI], 0.37 [0.07–0.66] mm Hg), but no effect modification by birth weight was found. Conclusions Higher maternal prepregnancy BMI, maternal hypertension, a relatively lower birth weight for gestational age, shorter gestational age, limited duration of breastfeeding, and more rapid early BMI gain contribute to higher childhood blood pressure at the age of 6 years.


2019 ◽  
Vol 374 (1770) ◽  
pp. 20180120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eilis Hannon ◽  
Diana Schendel ◽  
Christine Ladd-Acosta ◽  
Jakob Grove ◽  
Christine Søholm Hansen ◽  
...  

There is great interest in the role epigenetic variation induced by non-genetic exposures may play in the context of health and disease. In particular, DNA methylation has previously been shown to be highly dynamic during the earliest stages of development and is influenced by in utero exposures such as maternal smoking and medication. In this study we sought to identify the specific DNA methylation differences in blood associated with prenatal and birth factors, including birth weight, gestational age and maternal smoking. We quantified neonatal methylomic variation in 1263 infants using DNA isolated from a unique collection of archived blood spots taken shortly after birth (mean = 6.08 days; s.d. = 3.24 days). An epigenome-wide association study (EWAS) of gestational age and birth weight identified 4299 and 18 differentially methylated positions (DMPs) respectively, at an experiment-wide significance threshold of p < 1 × 10 −7 . Our EWAS of maternal smoking during pregnancy identified 110 DMPs in neonatal blood, replicating previously reported genomic loci, including AHRR . Finally, we tested the hypothesis that DNA methylation mediates the relationship between maternal smoking and lower birth weight, finding evidence that methylomic variation at three DMPs may link exposure to outcome. These findings complement an expanding literature on the epigenomic consequences of prenatal exposures and obstetric factors, confirming a link between the maternal environment and gene regulation in neonates. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine’.


2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane J. Lamb ◽  
Jacqueline M. Vink ◽  
Christel M. Middeldorp ◽  
Catharina E.M. van Beijsterveldt ◽  
Monique C. Haak ◽  
...  

Birth weight in triplets is, on average, lower than in singletons and twins, and more children are classified as having very low or extremely low birth weight. Still, there is limited research on factors that affect triplet birth weight, and samples under study are often small. Chorionicity and zygosity influence triplet birth weight, but it is unknown whether the effect of zygosity can be entirely ascribed to the effect of chorionicity or whether zygosity has an additional effect on triplet birth weight. This question was investigated in 346 triplets (from 116 trios) registered with the Netherlands Twin Register for whom data on chorionicity were available. ‘Triplet’ refers to one child and the set of three triplets is referred to as ‘trio’. Trios and triplets were classified based on zygosity and chorionicity. With regression analysis, the effects of zygosity and chorionicity on triplet birth weight were examined, while controlling for gestational age, sex, and maternal smoking during pregnancy. In addition, within the dizygotic trios a within-family comparison was made between the birth weight of the triplets that were part of a monozygotic pair (with some pairs sharing a chorion), and the birth weight of the dizygotic triplet. Based on the classification on individual level, monozygotic, monochorionic triplets had a lower mean birth weight than dizygotic, dichorionic triplets. Most remarkably, in dizygotic trios, monozygotic pairs only had a lower mean birth weight than their dizygotic sibling triplet when the pair shared a chorion. We conclude that having shared a chorion, rather than being monozygotic, increases the risk of a low birth weight.


2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie S. Knopik ◽  
Kristine Marceau ◽  
Rohan H. C. Palmer ◽  
Taylor F. Smith ◽  
Andrew C. Heath

Author(s):  
Suman Maity ◽  
Nahed El-hassan ◽  
Anthony Goudie ◽  
Jeffrey R Kaiser ◽  
Wendy N Nembhard

Children with congenital heart defects (CHD) have impaired cognitive development. The objective was to determine if children with CHDs differed in academic performance during elementary and middle school years from children without CHDs. Data from the state birth defects registry, Arkansas Reproductive Health Monitoring System (ARHMS), birth certificate records, and achievement test-scores (grades 3-8) from the Arkansas Department of Education were linked using unique identifiers for children born between 2000-2011 in Arkansas. Cases were identified using 6-digit British Paediatric Association codes and matched controls were assigned from birth certificate data. Proficiency (yes/no) on achievement tests was determined using standard thresholds per grade. Data were stratified based on sex, gestational age, and birth weight. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated from multivariate logistic regression adjusting for maternal education level and age, race/ethnicity, and infant sex. A total of 3,730 children with CHDs and 7,385 children without CHDs were evaluated. Children with CHD were less likely to be proficient in early elementary school grades for mathematics (3rd: OR=0.72, 95% CI: 0.59, 0.87; 4th: OR=0.77, 95% CI: 0.62, 0.95) and literacy (3rd: OR=0.75, 95% CI: 0.63, 0.89; 4th: OR=0.72, 95% CI: 0.58, 0.90). The trend of being less proficient associated with CHD remained mostly consistent with sex, gestational age, and birth weight. In multivariate analysis, CHD was negatively associated with being proficient in mathematics and literacy. Maternal education (1-3 years beyond high school) was positively associated with test proficiency. Additionally, non-Hispanic (NH) black children had lower odds of being proficient compared to NH white children. Educational performance was negatively associated with CHD in early elementary grades; there was no difference in later grades. However, larger sample sizes in later grades are necessary for reliable estimates. Maternal education and race/ethnicity were significant factors associated with childhood educational performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 537-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Menghan Gao ◽  
Kirk Scott ◽  
Ilona Koupil

Abstract Background Perinatal characteristics are associated with subsequent risk of several chronic diseases. Previous studies regarding endometriosis were based on small samples and retrospective data and were limited by unmeasured confounding bias, leading to conflicting and inconclusive findings. We investigated the associations of maternal and birth characteristics with risk of endometriosis among Swedish women of reproductive age. Methods This total-population register-based cohort study consisted of 628 312 singleton women born in Sweden between 1973 and 1987, who were followed for diagnosed endometriosis from age 15 years until the end of 2012. Multivariable Cox regression was applied to examine associations with perinatal characteristics. Residual unmeasured confounding was assessed through within-family and E-value analyses. Results During follow-up, 8262 women received an endometriosis diagnosis. There were clear dose−response/linear associations of endometriosis with lower maternal education, endometriosis in the mother [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR): 2.24, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.04–2.46], maternal smoking during pregnancy (aHR: 1.18, 95% CI: 1.04–1.33 for moderate smoker and aHR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.18–1.57 for heavy smoker vs non-smoker), lower birthweight, and lower birthweight-for-gestational age (aHR: 0.93 per standard deviation increase, 95% CI: 0.91–0.95). Within-family and E-value analyses suggested that these perinatal characteristics are robust predictors of the incidence of endometriosis. We also found that an estimated 26% of the association between maternal smoking and early-onset endometriosis could be explained by birthweight-for-gestational age. Conclusion This study finds support for fetal origins of endometriosis, in that exposure to adverse environment or restricted development during the perinatal period may increase the risk. Further research is needed to provide an understanding of the underlying mechanisms.


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