{
  "abstract": "Background\n\nSeveral studies have shown that high cortisol levels and psychological stress during pregnancy are associated with adverse outcomes in the offspring, including lower gestational age, and neurodevelopmental delays. This study aimed to evaluate the association of hair cortisol levels and psychological maternal stress during pregnancy with anthropometric measures at birth.Methods\n\nPregnant women were recruited during the first trimester (T1) and followed-up during the second (T2) and third (T3) trimesters, and delivery. Hair samples were collected from the scalp to analyse cortisol levels, while psychological stress and anxiety were assessed through validated instruments during each trimester. From the 800 mother-child pairs participating in the prospective birth cohort < blinded for peer-review > 669 mother-child pairs were selected for this analysis.Results\n\nIn males, birth-weight was positively associated with hair cortisol levels (log-10 transformed) during T1 (β = 0.244, 95% CI: 0.028; 0.461, p = 0.027), T2 (β = 0.291, 95% CI: 0.050; 0.531, p = 0.01), and across the entire pregnancy (mean log-10 transformed hair cortisol levels: β = 0.288, 95% CI: 0.007; 0.570, p = 0.01). In females, birth-weight was inversely associated with maternal psychological stress in T1 (β = -0.022, 95% CI: -0.040; -0.003, p = 0.02), while birth length was inversely associated with maternal psychological stress in T2 (β = -0.119, 95% CI: -0.241; 0.003, p = 0.05). Furthermore, maternal anxiety during T3 was associated with an increase in female birth-weight (β = 0.015, 95% CI: 0.002; 0.028, p = 0.02).Conclusions\n\nThese findings suggest that elevated hair cortisol levels, along with psychological stress and anxiety during pregnancy, may influence foetal growth and impact on birth anthropometric measurements.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.",
    "Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria Ibs. GRANADA, Granada, Spain.",
    "Statistics and Operations Research Department, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Fuente Nueva S/N, 18071, Granada, Spain.",
    "Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP), Granada, Spain.",
    "CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain.",
    "Department of Pharmacology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.",
    "Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Madrid, Spain.",
    "Department of Legal Medicine and Toxicology, University of Granada School of Medicine, Granada, Spain.",
    "Department of Genetics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.",
    "Hospital Univesitario Torrecardenas, Almeria, Spain.",
    "Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Poniente, El Ejido, Almeria, Spain.",
    "Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria Ibs. GRANADA, Granada, Spain. marina.lacasana.easp@juntadeandalucia.es.",
    "Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP), Granada, Spain. marina.lacasana.easp@juntadeandalucia.es.",
    "CIBER Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain. marina.lacasana.easp@juntadeandalucia.es."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 9,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Rafael A Caparros-Gonzalez"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Desirée Romero-Molina"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Beatriz González-Alzaga"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        5,
        6
      ],
      "name": "Raquel Gonzalez-Perez"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        4,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Antonio F Hernández"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        8
      ],
      "name": "Inmaculada Lopez-Flores"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "María José Gimenez-Asensio"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Maria Dolores Sanchez-Piedra"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11,
        12,
        13
      ],
      "name": "Marina Lacasaña"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/00a9eydfwhghk.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1186/s12884-026-09229-4",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13721619",
  "id": "00a9eydfwhghk",
  "issns": [
    "1471-2393"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42963753",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Research"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7172255332",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13721619?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13721619",
  "pmid": "42963753",
  "published": "2026-08-04",
  "publisher": "BMC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/00a9eydfwhghk.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-02T03:21:43Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42963753",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42963753"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-03T12:22:17Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13721619",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-026-09229-4"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2739|Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Effects of prenatal exposure to maternal cortisol and psychological stress on neonatal development: the GENEIDA mother-infant cohort (Andalusia, Spain).",
  "title_text": "Effects of prenatal exposure to maternal cortisol and psychological stress on neonatal development: the GENEIDA mother-infant cohort (Andalusia, Spain).",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-03T12:22:17Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/00a9eydfwhghk",
  "venue": "BMC pregnancy and childbirth",
  "versions": []
}