Having baby boys ‘puts more stress on the body’

GIVING birth to a boy puts more stress on a woman’s body than if she has a girl, researchers claim.

They say babies create chemicals that trigger inflammation in the mother, which can harm her cells – and males make notably more of these than females.

This could lead to greater longterm health risks for women who have sons, scientists believe, even contributing to the development of depression or Alzheimer’s disease.

Javier Diaz-Castro, from the University of Granada in Spain, said giving birth to a boy would not ‘feel worse in terms of pain – the pain will be the same whether it is a boy or a girl’. But there would be greater damage on a cellular level, as males are more ‘aggressive’ chemically.

‘In terms of the response in the mother’s body, having a girl causes less inflammation,’ said Dr DiazCastro, who co-authored the study.

This is because males create more substances known as free radicals, which cause the mother’s body to respond as though it were infected.

This in turn leads to more inflammation and damage.

His team also found that the bodies of baby girls show fewer signs of stress and inflammation after birth.

The researchers followed 56 healthy, pregnant women at San Cecilio Clinic Hospital in Granada to see how their bodies responded to having children.

Twenty-seven gave birth to boys and 29 had girls. After the labour, researchers took blood samples from the umbilical cord and the baby. These were analysed for levels of

‘Pain same whether it’s a boy or girl’

so-called oxidative stress – when the body does not have enough antioxidants to tackle the damaging free radicals. They also looked for substances produced by the body when it is inflamed.

They found baby boys were linked to greater stress response from the mother. The team has not followed women over their whole lives, however, Dr Diaz-Castro believes that as they age, women who give birth to boys may have worse health.

He said this was because the mother’s immune system would ultimately be affected by the sex of her child.

He said: ‘After having a girl the female body will be better adjusted.’

Oxidative stress is thought to be linked to conditions including heart disease, Alzheimer’s and depression.

The authors of the study – published in the journal Pediatric Research – said: ‘Our findings open a new, exciting field of research centred on the neonate’s [newborn’s] sex as a risk factor for several functional alterations, with a great impact on the development of pathologies in the future.’