The first population-based study of its kind, new research led by the University of Adelaide revealed that male babies are at greater risk of experiencing potentially life-threatening outcomes at birth than their female counterparts.
Data from the research was taken from the 574,000 South Australian investigated over a 30-year period, from 1981 to 2011.
Involving the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute, the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, and the Pregnancy Outcome Unit of SA Health, the team of researchers evaluated the relationship between the babies’ sex and adverse outcomes.
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These included as pre-term birth, pregnancy-induced high blood pressure disorders, and gestational diabetes mellitus.
“The major conclusion of our study is that the evidence is there and it is very clear: the sex of the baby has a direct association with pregnancy outcomes,” says research leader and senior author Professor Claire Roberts.
A Medical Express article highlighted the research’s other findings and important points, such as:
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- Boys are more likely to be born spontaneously pre-term. Boys show a 27% higher risk for a pre-term birth between 20-24 weeks’ gestation, 24% higher risk for a pre-term birth between 30-33 weeks, and 17% higher risk for pre-term birth between 34-36 weeks.
- Mothers carrying boys are 4% more likely to suffer gestational diabetes.
- Mothers carrying boys are 7.5% more likely to suffer pre-eclampsia at term.
- However, pregnant women carrying a girl have a 22% higher risk for early-onset pre-eclampsia requiring a pre-term delivery.
“Our results indicate there may be a need for specific interventions tailored to male and female babies, to prevent adverse outcomes for both child and mother,” says Lead author Dr. Petra Verburg from the University of Groningen.
“We’re investigating other factors that may predict pregnancy complications, taking fetal sex into account.”
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The Medical Express article also stated that Dr. Roberts and her colleagues have previously published a study “on sex differences in the expression of 142 genes in the placenta from normal pregnancies.”
Because a mothers placenta is critical for a pregnancy’s success, they believe that the difference in a baby’s sex in placental function may be able to explain the varied outcomes for newborn and their mothers.
Furthermore, in a PLOS article where the study’s results have been published, it said that the study confirms the presence of sexual dimorphisms.
“The mechanisms by which these occur remain elusive, but sex differences in placental gene expression and function are likely to play a key role.
“Further research on sex differences in placental function and maternal adaptation to pregnancy is required to delineate the causal molecular mechanisms in sex-specific pregnancy outcome.
“Identifying these mechanisms may inform fetal sex-specific tailored antenatal and neonatal care.”
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