Holidays Can Affect When Expectant Mothers Deliver - Researchers have long suspected that holidays and culturally meaningful events can play a role in medical outcomes. Some believe that terminally ill patients, for example, can hang on to life for religious events, birthdays and symbolically important occasions, though decades of study of the question have yielded mixed results.
It has been unclear whether a similar holiday-postponement effect could be seen in pregnant women. In a study published this month, however, researchers at the Yale School of Public Health reviewed millions of birth certificates and found a 5.3 percent dip in spontaneous births on Halloween, suggesting that a mother’s mental state may play a role in when she goes into labor. The researchers also noted a 16.9 percent drop in Caesarean births on Halloween, perhaps indicating that many women avoid scheduling the procedure then.
The scientists looked at all births in the United States over an 11-year period that occurred within one week on either side of Halloween, adjusting for variables like day of the week. The 1.8 million births revealed a clear reluctance to start labor around the festival of the dead.
But would a more symbolically positive holiday have the reverse effect?
To find out, the researchers studied 1.7 million births that occurred within a week of Valentine’s Day over the same 11 years. They found a 3.6 percent spike in spontaneous births on Valentine’s and a 12.1 percent rise in Caesareans.
THE BOTTOM LINE
It has been unclear whether a similar holiday-postponement effect could be seen in pregnant women. In a study published this month, however, researchers at the Yale School of Public Health reviewed millions of birth certificates and found a 5.3 percent dip in spontaneous births on Halloween, suggesting that a mother’s mental state may play a role in when she goes into labor. The researchers also noted a 16.9 percent drop in Caesarean births on Halloween, perhaps indicating that many women avoid scheduling the procedure then.
The scientists looked at all births in the United States over an 11-year period that occurred within one week on either side of Halloween, adjusting for variables like day of the week. The 1.8 million births revealed a clear reluctance to start labor around the festival of the dead.
But would a more symbolically positive holiday have the reverse effect?
To find out, the researchers studied 1.7 million births that occurred within a week of Valentine’s Day over the same 11 years. They found a 3.6 percent spike in spontaneous births on Valentine’s and a 12.1 percent rise in Caesareans.
THE BOTTOM LINE
New research suggests that women may be able to control the timing of spontaneous births around certain holidays. ( nytimes.com )
No comments:
Post a Comment