Poor Growth in First Trimester of Pregnancy Linked to Heart Risk for Baby

The beginning stages of pregnancy are critical for the growth and development of every newborn. Yet a recent study shows that slow fetal growth during the first trimester in particular may be linked to poor heart health for infants.

As the first trimester supports the embryonic phase in which the heart and other major organs are formed, researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Center in The Netherlands stress the importance of proper rest and diet during this critical period, according to Sun News.

For their study, researchers reviewed the crown to rump lengths of 1,184 children while they were still in utero. This is commonly used to asses cardiovascular risk factors, according to background information from the study.

For smaller fetuses, researchers found that they typically had more fat and higher blood pressure compared to those of larger stature.

"These results suggest that the first trimester of pregnancy may be a critical period for development of cardiovascular risk factors in later life," the authors note, via a press release.

A follow-up was conducted when the children were around 6 years old, according to dailyrx.com. Researchers measured their body fat distribution, height, weight, blood pressure and blood concentrations of total cholesterol, insulin, triglycerides and C peptides.

Results showed that children with the highest lengths had a 50 percent decreased risk of having cardiovascular issues into later childhood and adulthood when compared to those with smaller crown to rump lengths from the study.

Though the findings support interesting implications regarding fetal growth and cardiovascular risk, researchers note that not all mothers participated in the follow-up portion of the study, and the study limited participants to children with recorded first trimester fetal crown to rump length from a specific age range of three weeks.

Lastly, findings may not be applicable to the general population.

More information regarding the study can be found via the BMJ.