Prenatal maternal stress predicts cord-blood ferritin concentration

Aim: To examine the relationship between maternal stress in early pregnancy and cord-blood ferritin concentration. Methods: The sample consisted of 140 pregnant women who lived in a region that was under rocket attack during a military operation (December 2008 to January 2009). Mothers in the stress group (n = 63) were in their first trimester during this period. Mothers in the control group (n = 77) became pregnant 4 - 5 months after the attacks ended. Maternal subjective stress was reported retrospectively. Cord-blood ferritin concentration was compared between stress and control groups, and was the dependent variable in a hierarchical multiple regression analysis. Results: The mean cord-blood ferritin concentration was lower in the stress group compared to the control group (145.7±62.0 vs. 169.3±5.4 ng/mL, P<0.05). The cumulative distribution of cord-blood ferritin showed a shift to the left for the stress group. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that maternal subjective stress was a predictor for cord-blood ferritin concentration (hierarchical regression: β- 0.18, P<0.05), especially in the stress group (simple slope analysis: β- 0.32, P<0.01). Conclusion: Maternal stress during the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with lower cord-blood ferritin concentration.