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Parental Attitudes About a Pregnancy Predict Birth Weight in a Low-Income Population

¹ Department of Family Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Aurora, Colo
² Boulder County Department of Public Health, Boulder, Colo
³ Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Aurora, Colo
⁴ University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colo
⁵ University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, Oklahoma City, Okla
⁶ Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Aurora, Colo
⁷ The Children’s Hospital, Denver, Colo

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Robert Keeley, UCHSC Fitzsimmons, PO Box 6508 Campus Box F-496, Aurora, CO 80045, Robert.Keeley{at}UCHSC.edu

BACKGROUND Low birth weight remains the primary cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality in the United States. We examined whether maternal happiness about a pregnancy, in addition to her report of the father’s happiness, predicts birth weight and risk for low birth weight (<2,500 g).

METHODS In this prospective cohort study, the mother’s report of her and her partner’s happiness about the pregnancy was measured before 21 weeks’ gestation on a scale from 1 to10 (1 to 3 unhappy, 4 to 7 ambivalent, or 8 to 10 happy). "Mother reports partner happier" occurred when the mother perceived the father’s happiness score at least 5 points greater than her own. Information on birth weights and maternal sociodemographic, medical, and psychosocial factors were obtained from surveys and medical records.

RESULTS Of 162 live births, 9 were low birth weight (5.6%). Compared with women who reported happiness with the pregnancy, risk for low birth weight was greater when the mother reported partner happier about the pregnancy (relative risk 10.0, 95% confidence interval, 3.1–32.4). This predictor of birth weight remained significant in multivariate linear regression analyses (coefficient = -472 g, SE = 171 g, P = .007) after adjustment for other known predictors of birth weight.

CONCLUSIONS Maternal report of greater partner happiness about a pregnancy is associated with birth weight and appears to define low- and high-risk subgroups for low birth weight in a low-income population. Further study in larger samples is needed to confirm our findings and to assess whether maternal report of greater partner happiness is itself a modifiable factor or is a marker for other factors that might be modified with targeted interventions.

Key Words: Birth weight • infant low birth weight • paternal behavior • pregnancy, unwanted • maternal-fetal relations

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