Pamela Feldman

Contact: Pamela Feldman, PhD+44 207 679 5973pamela@public-health.ucl.ac.uk

Social Support During Pregnancy Can Affect Fetal Growth And Birth Weight

An infant's birth weight may be affected by the amount of social support the mother receives during pregnancy, according to a new study.

"It is critical that psychosocial risk factors that contribute to low birth weight and fetal growth restriction are identified -- especially given the implications for infant morbidity and mortality, healthcare costs, and parenting stress," said lead author Pamela Feldman, PhD, of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London, UK.

The study was conducted at the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of California at Irvine by an interdisciplinary team that interviewed nearly 250 pregnant women, asking if the baby's father would help them financially and otherwise with the baby, if their parents would be there for them, and if they had friends to turn to for support and assistance.

Women with several types of support from different sources during pregnancy had higher birth weight infants, Feldman and colleagues found.

The relationship between social support and birth weight held even after the researchers took into account other factors often associated with low birth weight, including premature delivery, a history of stillbirth or spontaneous abortion, and medical conditions such as hypertension or epilepsy.

The researchers report their findings in the September/October issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.

"That social support is an important predictor of birth weight is emphasized by the finding that it predicts birth weight independently but to the same extent as these well known medical determinants of birth weight," said Feldman.
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"Our findings suggest several types of support from different sources influence fetal growth and birth weight," said Feldman."Interventions need to bolster the support provided within a woman's existing social network rather than just providing external support."

More research is needed to determine the best ways to support those women with less access to social support during pregnancy -- and who may be at higher risk of having a lower birth weight infant, according to the researchers.

"Also, future studies may build on these findings by investigating the biological and behavioral pathways that link social support to fetal growth," said Feldman.

Christine Dunkel-Schetter, PhD, Curt A. Sandman, PhD, and Pathik D. Wadhwa, MD, PhD, conducted the study along with Feldman and colleagues.

"It is critical that psychosocial risk factors that contribute to low birth weight and fetal restriction are identified - especially given the implications for infant morbidity and mortality, healthcare costs and parenting stress," said lead author of the study Pamela Feldman, Ph.D., of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College London.

The researchers interviewed nearly 250 pregnant women, asking them if the baby's father would support them financially and otherwise with the child, if their parents would support them, and if they had friends around for support and assistance.

Feldman and colleagues found that those women with several sources of support during pregnancy had higher birth weight infants.And, the relationship between social support and birth weight remained even after the researchers took into account other factors often associated with low birth weight - premature delivery, history of stillbirth or spontaneous abortion, and such medical conditions as hypertension or epilepsy.

"That social support is an important predictor of birth weight is emphasized by the finding that it predicts birth weight independently but to the same extent as these well-known medical determinants of birth weight," said Feldman.

While previous studies support the idea that stress contributes to premature birth through its effect on the nervous system, further research is needed to determine if social support affects fetal growth and subsequent birth weight similarly, she said.