ArticlePaediatric and perinatal epidemiology2023
Maternal stress during pregnancy and gestational duration: A cohort study from the Danish National Birth Cohort.
Article in Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prenatal allostatic load and adverse pregnancy outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.PeerJ · 2026Pooled it
- Midwest Racial and Mental Health Disparities in Pregnancy Outcomes Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective Study.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Stress and anxiety during pregnancy and length of gestation: a federated study using data from five Canadian and European birth cohorts.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- It is time to explore the impact of length of gestation and fetal health on the human lifespan.Aging cell · 2024Article
- Maternal stress during pregnancy and gestational duration: A cohort study from the Danish National Birth Cohort.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPreterm birth is one of the most important contributors to neonatal mortality and morbidity. Experiencing stress during pregnancy may increase the risk of adverse birth outcomes, including preterm birth. This association has been observed in previous studies, but differences in measures used limit comparability.
objectiveThe objective of the study was to investigate the association between two measures of maternal stress during pregnancy, life stress and emotional distress, and gestation duration.
methodsWomen recruited in the Danish National Birth Cohort from 1996 to 2002, who provided information on their stress level during pregnancy and expecting a singleton baby, were included in the study. We assessed the associations between the level of life stress and emotional distress in quartiles, both collected at 31 weeks of pregnancy on average, and the rate of giving birth using Cox regression within intervals of the gestational period.
resultsA total of 80,991 pregnancies were included. Women reporting moderate or high levels of life stress vs no stress had a higher rate of giving birth earlier within all intervals of gestational age (e.g. high level: 27-33 weeks: hazard ratio (HR) 1.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04, 1.84; 34-36 weeks: 1.10, 95% CI 0.97, 1.25; 37-38 weeks: 1.21, 95% CI 1.15, 1.28). These associations between life stress and preterm birth were mainly driven by pregnancy worries. For emotional distress, a high level of distress was associated with shorter length of gestation in the preterm (27-33 weeks: 1.38, 95% CI 1.02, 1.86; 34-36 weeks: 1.05, 95% CI 0.91, 1.19) and early term (1.11, 95% CI 1.04, 1.17) intervals.
conclusionsEmotional distress and life stress were shown to be associated with gestational age at birth, with pregnancy-related stress being the single stressor driving the association. This suggests that reverse causality may, at least in parts, explain the earlier findings of stress as a risk factor for preterm birth.
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