University of Granada study shows having a boy puts more pressure on the mother’s body

October 28, 2016

Males make notably more of the chemicals than females, researchers say
Could contribute to depression or Alzheimer’s disease in the future
But scientists say the pain of birth is equal regardless of the baby’s gender
Mothers-to-be are also being urged to double their Vitamin D intake

Colin Fernandez Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published:
19:11 EST, 27 October 2016

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Updated:
01:47 EST, 28 October 2016

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Giving birth to a boy puts more stress on a woman’s body than if she has a girl, researchers claim.

They say babies create chemicals that trigger inflammation in the mother, which can harm her cells.

However males make notably more of these than females.

Giving birth to a boy puts more stress on a woman’s body than if she has a girl, researchers claim

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This could lead to greater long-term health risks for women who have sons, scientists believe – even contributing to the development of depression or Alzheimer’s disease.

Javier Diaz-Castro, from the University of Granada in Spain, said that giving birth to a boy would not ‘feel worse in terms of pain – the pain will be the same whether it is a boy or a girl’.

But he said there would be greater damage on a cellular level, as males are more ‘aggressive’ chemically.

‘In terms of the response in the mother’s body, having a girl causes less inflammation,’ said Dr Diaz-Castro, who co-authored the study.

This is because males create more substances known as free radicals, which cause the mother’s body to respond as though it were infected.

This in turn leads to more inflammation and damage.

His team also found that the bodies of baby girls themselves show fewer signs of stress and inflammation after birth.

MUMS-TO-BE URGED TO DOUBLE VIT D DOSE

Mothers-to-be should be advised to more than double their daily intake of vitamin D, scientists say.

The call follows research that found the ‘sunshine vitamin’ drops to a lower level in women with a winter due date than in those expected to give birth in the summer.

Women who put on more weight during their pregnancy and those with one of four specific genes were also more likely to have low vitamin D levels, researchers at the universities of Southampton and Oxford found.

One in five people in Britain have low levels of vitamin D – which is produced by the skin when it soaks up the sun’s rays.

The vitamin is particularly important during pregnancy as it is crucial for a baby’s development in the womb.

Since 2012 the NHS has advised all pregnant women to consider taking 10 micrograms of vitamin D a day in a supplement.

But in an effort to catch all those mums-to-be whose levels may drop off, the scientists said this advice should initially be raised to 25 micrograms a day.

Eventually, they want women to receive customised doses, depending on their due date, weight and genetics.

The researchers followed 56 healthy, pregnant women at San Cecilio Clinic Hospital in Granada to see how their bodies responded to having children.

Of these women, 27 gave birth to boys and 29 had girls.

After the labour, researchers took blood samples from both the umbilical cord and the baby.

These were then analysed for levels of so-called oxidative stress – when the body doesn’t have enough antioxidants to tackle the damaging free radicals.

They also looked for substances produced by the body when it is inflamed.

They found that baby boys were linked to greater stress response from the mother.

The team has not followed women over their whole lives – however Dr Diaz-Castro thinks that as they age, women who give birth to boys may have worse health as a result.

He said this was because the mother’s immune system will ultimately be affected by the sex of her child.

‘After having a baby girl the female body will be better adjusted,’ he said.

Oxidative stress is thought to be linked to numerous conditions including heart disease, Alzheimer’s and depression.

The authors of the study – which was published in the journal Pediatric Research – said: ‘Our findings open a new, exciting field of research centred on the neonate’s [newborn’s] sex as a risk factor for several functional alterations, with a great impact on the development of pathologies in the future.’