Daily Mail

How baby’s genes help experts spot birth risks

- By Victoria Allen Science Correspond­ent

Scientists have found a potential way to reduce the risks of pregnancy complicati­ons and stillbirth that are dependent on the gender of their child.

Pregnant women carrying boys have a 10 per cent higher chance of stillbirth, while those expecting girls have a greater risk of premature birth due to pre-eclampsia.

now scientists may be able to better predict both, after finding they are driven by genes in the placenta.

Researcher­s at the University of Cambridge wanted to know why boys are more often stillborn due to poor growth, while girls trigger pre- eclampsia – which affects 50,000 women in Britain each year.

they discovered placentas are different based on the sex of the baby, and this controls levels of an important chemical called

‘Poor growth in the womb’

spermine. if low levels of spermine cause babies to be small, and high levels cause pre-eclampsia, then doctors could use this to monitor women’s health better.

the study, published in the journal JCi insight, suggests that the difference in complicati­ons comes from our caveman past.

evolution may have preferenti­ally allowed survival of poorly-grown females as they would be able to reproduce, whereas poorly-grown males were less likely to survive.

After analysing samples of placentas and blood from more than 4,000 first-time mothers at the Rosie Maternity Hospital in Cambridge, experts found placentas for boys have lower levels of spermine, which may predispose them to poor growth in the womb.

Professor Gordon smith, from the University of Cambridge, said: ‘Better understand­ing of these difference­s could lead to new predictive tests and possibly even new approaches to reducing the risk of poor pregnancy outcome.’

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom