E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSJoseph Castro, MyHealthNewsDaily
Doctors have long known that preterm babies face increased health risks later in life, but now, new research from the Netherlands shows that post-term babies — those born after a 42-week pregnancy — also have a higher risk of developing behavioral and emotional problems, compared with children born at term.
The study showed that post-term babies were more than twice as likely to have behavioral problems at 18 to 36 months old compared with term babies. And post-term babies were almost 2.5 times as likely to have attention–deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at these ages.
The results held even after the researchers controlled for a number of factors, including the mothers' weights, alcohol consumption and smoking frequency. However, the researchers said that other factors, including the mothers' nutrition during pregnancy, couldn't be ruled out as playing a role in the findings.
Doctors don't know what causes post-term births, but the researchers said it's imperative to solve this. "It is also important that further research is carried out in order to demonstrate a causal relation between post-term birth and behavioral problems," lead author Hanan El Marroun, a child psychiatrist at Erasmus MC, a medical center in Rotterdam, said in a statement.
Previous research has shown that both preterm and post-term births are linked with early health issues, and research has also shown that several long-term issues are associated with preterm births, such as a higher risk of cerebral palsy, sensory impairments and behavioral problems.
It's less clear whether there are similar long-term issues associated with post-term births, though a recent study, in which researchers tracked referrals to a neurologist or psychologist in Sweden, found that 13 percent of post-term children had a neurological or developmental disorder at age 5.
In the new study, researchers looked at pregnant women in Rotterdam who were due to give birth between April 2002 and January 2006. Of the 5,145 babies born, the researchers found that 4.4 percent were born preterm, and 7.4 percent were born post-term.
The mothers filled out a questionnaire, called the Child Behavior Checklist, when their toddlers were 18 months and 36 months old. Fathers also filled out the form at the 36-month mark.
The checklist asked questions about the child's behavior in the preceding two months, and is widely used to identify emotional problems, developmental problems and ADHD.
The researchers found that both preterm and post-term babies are at a higher risk for developing "problem behavior," compared with term-born infants.
The findings were limited in that the parents knew if their children were born post-term, and thus could have been biased to report more behavioral issues, the researchers noted. However, it's unlikely that they did this because "the notion that a post-term birth may signal at-risk babies is largely nonexistent in the medical profession, and absent in the public debate," the authors wrote in their study, published Wednesday in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
Related stories:
- 11 Big Fat Pregnancy Myths
- 10 Ways to Promote Kids' Healthy Eating Habits
- Hypersex to Hoarding: 7 New Psychological Disorders
Leave a Comment:
This entire article needs to be removed. This is just ASKING for problems from paranoid parents panicking and begging their doctor to perform unnecessary early c-sections and induced labor. This is sensationalist reporting that people are going to end up reading way too far into. Alarmist reporting... msnbc.com is really digging themselves a hole now.
It is not something that needs to be removed. Post 42 weeks puts the baby at greater risk of intra-uterine demise. I wonder if the placenta is not moving enough oxygen?
They are talking about pregnancies that progress past 42 weeks. Agree that babies should not go further than that.
http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/04/11/ije.dys043.short?rss=1
This is going to make more parents freak out. My son was 42 weeks and four days and then we were concerned the placenta would shut down so we induced. He was extremely fussy as a baby, sever colic and as a toddler he has sensitivity to itchy clothes, loud noises, bright lights....so I stayed home and breastfed, I didn't let him watch TV, I fed him organic nutritious meals, I taught him to be silly when noises got too loud. We spent lots of time hiking in the woods. He is now a wonderful 10 year old! He plays sports, has lots of friends and is a straight A student. He is kind, and silly, and funny. There are no signs of ADHD, he is an absolute joy! Maybe he would have had problems had we not practiced attachment parenting? I don't know, its all a crap-shoot, you do the best you can at the time and keep moving in a forward direction.
Oh, I wish you had been my mom - you sound so caring and considerate. Good job.
Post-term birth is often caused by the child not being mature at the right time...which can be an indicator that all is not right. I have one such child, and welcome the story; the topic needs more attention.
The word "may" is a big word. The kids also may not have problems. Reports like this don't really state any facts, just somebody's guess, since it is not proven.
Well, I guess I can disprove this article. My son was 12 days late and while he was not perfect (no child is) he was much easier to deal with than my daughter, who was born 5 days early, on Friday the 13th no less!!! Until you can say with certainly that you conceived on "this date", due dates will always be a guess!! Do some "post term" children have issues? I'm sure they do, just as some "pre-term" and "just right term" kids do. There are a lot of other variables to this equation!!
It is not every child. They talk about an increased risk which apparently did not apply to you.
"Compared with term born children, post-term born children had a higher risk for overall problem behaviour [odds ratio (OR) = 2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.32–3.36] and were almost two and a half times as likely to have attention deficit / hyperactivity problem behaviour (OR = 2.44, 95% CI = 1.38–4.32)."
http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/04/11/ije.dys043.short?rss=1
And exactly what is "problem behavior" at 18 to 36 months? If you're going to enlighten us, write a more informative article.
But I'll add that predicting a woman's due date is at best an inexact science. Traditionally, a first time mother was usually "later" than the woman who had had one or more children.
If you're pregnant, well, you might need several grains of salt, especially if your doctor, possibly for the sake of convenience, wants to do a c-section or induce birth. (Translation: consider finding another doctor unless he or she has a good MEDICAL reason.)
This whole post is bs. Just something to give parents a stir and increase doctors chances of inducing and doing a scheduled c-section when not necessary. How stupid.
My son was born 3 weeks and 4 days past the date her was expected. That was figured by my dates and the doctor's. He weighed 8 lbs and 9 oz, 21 inches long (average size), I gained 10 lbs when I was pregnant with him. he was born breech with the use of forceps to deliver him because his chin was caught on my pelvic bone. We were in the hospital for 7 days. Would I rather have had a C-section 2 weeks sooner...Damn right I would have. I changed doctors after he was born. I wanted one that actually cared and if that means a C-section, so be it. After a wonderful infancy (he slept all night from the night he was born) he was a handful. He sat up late, walked late, had an unGodly temper and then school came and he had an IEP for learning and emotional/behavior disabilities. Was it because he was late, the way he was born? Who knows, it was 31 years ago and he has grown into a wonderful son who is a veteran of 2 tours in Iraq. It is an interesting topic that could use a more in depth, larger study.