Women who are shorter in height are twice as likely to have a baby born premature than tall mothers, according to a new international study. “Short mothers tend to have less space for the babies to grow before birth, and this seems to lead to premature delivery in some women”.
The latest of a series of studies from the Liggins Institute, based at the University of Auckland, and Sweden’s Uppsala University show the odds of having a premature baby rises as the mother’s height decreases, the researchers found.
Among short mothers (155 cm tall or shorter), 9.4 per cent of babies were born premature (at less than 37 weeks of gestation), and 1.1 per cent very premature (less than 32 weeks of gestation).
For tall mothers (179 cm or taller), these figures were 4.7 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.
For full details, read this article from stuff.co.nz
