Obese Pregnant Women May Have Tougher Time Fighting Infections

Obese pregnant women may have a harder time fighting off infections than leaner women do, new research suggests. Researchers tested the blood of 30 women who were about six months pregnant. Half were obese and had a body-mass index (BMI) of more than 30 prior to becoming pregnant, while half had a normal BMI of 20 to 25. Obese women had fewer immune system cells that fight infections including T-cells and natural killer cells, researchers found. Obese women also had an impaired ability to produce those cells.

The difference could threaten the health of babies born to obese women, study author Dr. Sarbattama Sen, a researcher in the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center and Floating Hospital for Children in Boston, said in an American Academy of Pediatrics news release. "Women who are obese before pregnancy have critical differences in their immune function during pregnancy compared to normal-weight women, which has negative consequences for both mother and baby," Sen said. The issue is taking on added urgency due to the increasing numbers of obese women of reproductive age, Sen added. "Maternal obesity has consequences for the mother and baby, which we are only beginning to understand."

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Lead Exposure May Raise Blood Pressure in Pregnancy

In pregnant women, even small amounts of lead in the blood may cause significantly higher blood pressure, new research suggests. The study of 285 pregnant women found that about one in four had a lead level higher than about 1 microgram per deciliter (1 mcg/dL) of umbilical cord blood. That's significantly lower than the safety thresholds set by the U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends taking action to reduce lead exposure when pregnant women or children have a blood lead level of 5 mcg/dL.

Even so, women in the study with lead levels greater than 1 mcg/dL had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings than those with lower lead levels. The average increase was 6.9 mm Hg and 4.4 mm Hg, respectively. Though further research is needed, the findings suggest that pregnant women may be as sensitive to lead toxicity as young children, said the researchers. Prolonged high blood pressure during pregnancy can lead to complications such as preeclampsia or eclampsia, potentially deadly seizures that also can increase a woman's future risk of heart attack.

"We didn't expect to see effects at such low levels of lead exposure, but in fact we found a strong effect," Dr. Lynn Goldman, dean of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, said in a university news release. The study did not find an association, however, between lead exposure and pregnancy-induced hypertension or preeclampsia.

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Depression During Pregnancy Might Affect Baby

Babies born to mothers who are depressed during pregnancy have higher levels of stress hormones, decreased muscle tone and other neurological and behavioral differences, a new study finds. "The two possibilities are that  are either more sensitive to stress and respond more vigorously to it, or that they are less able to shut down their stress response," lead investigator Dr. Delia M. Vazquez, a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, said in a school news release.

She and her colleagues examined the association between depression in pregnant women and the development of infants' neuroendocrine system, which controls the body's stress response, as well as mood and emotions. The study included 154 pregnant women, over the age of 20, whose depressive symptoms were assessed at 28, 32 and 37 weeks of pregnancy and again when they gave birth. Umbilical cord blood samples were taken at birth to measure stress hormone levels. At two weeks, the infants underwent neurobehavioral tests to assess their motor skills and responses to stimuli and stress.

The findings appear online and in an upcoming print issue of the journal Infant Behavior and Development. "It's difficult to say to what extent these differences are good or bad, or what impact they might have over a longer period of time," lead author Dr. Sheila Marcus, clinical director of U-M's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Section, said in the news release. "We're just beginning to look at these differences as part of a whole collection of data points that could be risk markers," she added. "These in turn would identify women who need attention during pregnancy or mother/infant pairs who might benefit from postpartum programs known to support healthy infant development through mom/baby relationships."

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