title: Maternal stressful life events prior to conception and the impact on infant birth weight in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We sought to determine if and to what extent a woman's exposure to stressful life events prior to conception (PSLEs) were associated with subsequent infant birth weight by using a nationally representative sample of US women.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 9350 mothers and infants participating in the first wave of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort in 2001. Weighted regressions estimated the effect of exposure on very low and low birth weight, adjusting for maternal sociodemographic and health factors and stress during pregnancy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty percent of women experienced any PSLE. In adjusted analyses, exposed women were 38% more likely to have a very low birth weight infant than nonexposed women. Furthermore, the accumulation of PSLEs was associated with reduced infant birth weight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This was the first nationally representative study to our knowledge to investigate the impact of PSLEs on very low and low birth weight in the United States. Interventions aimed to improve birth outcomes will need to shift the clinical practice paradigm upstream to the preconception period to reduce women's exposure to stress over the life course and improve the long-term health of children.
authors.affiliation: At the time of the study, all authors were with the Department of Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison.
authors.forename: Whitney P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Witt
authors.forename: Erika R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Lauren E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Wisk
authors.forename: Kristin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Litzelman
authors.forename: Debanjana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chatterjee
authors.forename: Kara
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mandell
authors.forename: Fathima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wakeel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult