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SALT LAKE CITY — A new study has shown that the time of year a child is conceived can determine if they are born premature.
Two researchers at the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University released a study showing a 10 percent higher rate of prematurity among babies who were conceived in May, according to time.com. The study compared over 1.4 million siblings born to 647,050 mothers in New York City, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The results were neutralized from factors like socioeconomic status, education and age because the study focused on siblings.
The results showed that babies conceived in May were more likely to be born premature because the mothers enter their third trimester of pregnancy during flu season, and flu has been a factor in early delivery. The study said that inflammation, which increases in response to the flu and has been linked in other studies with early delivery.
Prematurity has also been linked as a contributing factor to higher risks of asthma, learning disabilities and developmental problems.
The two researchers also found that babies conceived during summer months were almost a third of an ounce heavier.
