Impact of prenatal exposure to delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol on birth size and postnatal growth trajectories.

Background: Prenatal exposure to cannabis (or more specifically, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol [Δ9-THC]) has been consistently linked to low birthweight. Animal models further show that Δ9-THC is associated with rapid postnatal growth. Whether this association is modified by breastfeeding is unknown.

Maternal Exposure to Tap Water Disinfection By-Products and Risk of Selected Congenital Heart Defects.

Background: The use of chlorine to treat drinking water produces disinfection by-products (DBPs), which have been associated with congenital heart defects (CHDs) in some studies.

Methods: Using National Birth Defects Prevention Study data, we linked geocoded residential addresses to public water supply measurement data for DBPs. Self-reported water consumption and filtration methods were used to estimate maternal ingestion of DBPs.

Newborn screening analytes and structural birth defects among 27,000 newborns.

Background: Emerging evidence suggests newborn screening analytes may yield insights into the etiologies of birth defects, yet no effort has evaluated associations between a range of newborn screening analytes and birth defects.

Methods: This population-based study pooled statewide data on birth defects, birth certificates, and newborn screening analytes from Texas occurring between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009. Associations between a panel of thirty-six newborn screening analytes, collected by the statewide Texas Newborn Screening Program, and the presence of a birth defect, defined as at least one of 39 birth defects diagnoses recorded by the Texas Birth Defects Registry, were assessed using regression analysis.

Sunspot activity and birth defects among Texas births (1999-2016).

Background: Building on findings that linked higher levels of sunspot (SS) activity with a range of health and adverse birth outcomes, we sought to understand how SS activity over a 17-year time period may be correlated with the occurrence of birth defects.

Methods: Data from the Texas Birth Defects Registry, vital events from the Texas Center for Health Statistics, and mean monthly numbers of sunspots from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were utilized. Poisson regression was used to calculate crude/adjusted prevalence ratios (cPRs/aPRs) and 95% confidence intervals for three quartiles (Q) of increasing SS activity (compared to a referent of low activity) and 44 birth defects (31 non-cardiac; 13 cardiac) with estimated dates of conception from 1998 to 2016.

Prenatal Exposure to Tobacco and Childhood Cognition and Behavior: Effect Modification by Maternal Folate Intake and Breastfeeding Duration.

In this exploratory analysis, we assessed whether nutrition modified the association between prenatal exposure to tobacco and childhood cognition/behavior among 366 Colorado-based mothers and their offspring (born ≥ 37 weeks with birthweights ≥ 2500 g). Interaction by folate ( View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Associations between Prenatal and Postnatal Exposure to Cannabis with Cognition and Behavior at Age 5 Years: The Healthy Start Study.

Background: Prenatal exposure to cannabis may influence childhood cognition and behavior, but the epidemiologic evidence is mixed. Even less is known about the potential impact of secondhand exposure to cannabis during early childhood.

Objective: This study sought to assess whether prenatal and/or postnatal exposure to cannabis was associated with childhood cognition and behavior.

Prenatal exposure to tobacco and adverse birth outcomes: effect modification by folate intake during pregnancy.

Background: Fetal exposure to tobacco increases the risk for many adverse birth outcomes, but whether diet mitigates these risks has yet to be explored. Here, we examined whether maternal folate intake (from foods and supplements) during pregnancy modified the association between prenatal exposure to tobacco and with preterm delivery, small-for-gestational age (SGA) births, or neonatal adiposity.

Methods: Mother-child pairs (n = 701) from Healthy Start were included in this analysis.

Associations between maternal reports of periconceptional fever from miscellaneous causes and structural birth defects.

Background: Associations between birth defects and fevers attributed to colds, influenza, and urinary tract infections (UTIs) have been observed in previous studies. Our aim was to study associations between birth defects and fevers attributed to other causes.

Methods: We analyzed data from 34,862 participants in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a multistate case-control study of major structural birth defects.

Leveraging a phenome-wide approach to identify novel exposure-birth defect associations: A proof of concept using maternal smoking and a spectrum of birth defects.

Background: There are often questions about the impact of exposures on a range of birth defects, but there are few rigorous approaches for evaluating these associations. Using maternal smoking as an example we applied a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) approach to evaluate the impact of this exposure on a comprehensive range of birth defects.

Methods: Cases were obtained from the Texas Birth Defects Registry for the period 1999-2015.

Acculturation and selected birth defects among non-Hispanic Blacks in a population-based case-control study.

Background: There are noted birth defects prevalence differences between race/ethnicity groups. For instance, non-Hispanic (NH) Black mothers are more likely to have an infant with encephalocele, although less likely to have an infant with anotia/microtia compared to NH Whites. When stratifying by nativity and years lived within the United States, additional variations become apparent.

Association between maternal periconceptional alcohol consumption and neural tube defects: Findings from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2011.

Background: Neural tube defects (NTD)s are common birth defects with a multifactorial etiology. Findings from human studies examining environmental (non-inherited) exposures tend to be inconclusive. In particular, although animal studies of alcohol exposure and NTDs support its teratogenic potential, human studies are equivocal.

Survival of infants with spina bifida and the role of maternal prepregnancy body mass index.

Objective: To investigate first-year survival of infants born with spina bifida, and examine the association of maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) with infant mortality.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of 1,533 liveborn infants with nonsyndromic spina bifida with estimated dates of delivery from 1998 to 2011 whose mothers were eligible for the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS). NBDPS data were linked to death records to conduct survival analyses.

The prevalence of birth defects among non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaska Natives in Texas, 1999-2015.

Background: There is considerable variability in the prevalence of birth defects among racial/ethnic groups. This study estimated birth defect prevalence among the less studied non-Hispanic (NH) Asian/Pacific Islander (PI) and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations in Texas relative to NH Whites.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Texas Birth Defect Registry from 1999 to 2015 for deliveries to Texas-resident women who were NH White, NH Asian/PI, or AI/AN.

Selected acculturation factors and birth defects in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2011.

Background: Acculturation has been examined with respect to various pregnancy adverse outcomes, including birth defects. Given the mixed and limited findings on the association between nativity and birth defects, we sought to further explore parental nativity and years lived in the U.S.

Sociodemographic, health behavioral, and clinical risk factors for anotia/microtia in a population-based case-control study.

Objective: Anotia and microtia are congenital malformations of the external ear with few known risk factors. We conducted a comprehensive assessment of a wide range of potential risk factors using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS), a population-based case-control study of non-chromosomal structural birth defects in the United States.

Methods: Mothers of 699 infants with anotia or microtia (cases) and 11,797 non-malformed infants (controls) delivered between 1997 and 2011 were interviewed to obtain information about sociodemographic, health behavioral, and clinical characteristics.

Temporal trends in diagnoses of congenital microcephaly, Texas Hospital Discharge Diagnoses, 2000-2015.

Objective: Assess temporal trends in congenital microcephaly.

Methods: We used Texas inpatient discharge diagnoses between 2000 and 2015, restricting to newborns. Between 2000 and 2003, the maximum number of fields for recording diagnostic codes was eight, and between 2004 and 2015 it was 24.

Fish consumption prior to pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2011.

Objective: To evaluate the relationships between maternal fish consumption and pregnancy outcomes in a large, population-based sample of women in the USA.

Design: We collected average fish consumption prior to pregnancy using a modified version of the semi-quantitative Willett FFQ. We estimated adjusted OR (aOR) and 95 % CI for associations between different levels of fish consumption and preterm birth (<37 weeks), early preterm birth (<32 and <35 weeks) and small-for-gestational-age infants (SGA; <10th percentile).

Drinking water disinfection byproducts and risk of orofacial clefts in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study.

Background: Maternal exposure to drinking water disinfection byproducts (DBP)s may contribute to orofacial cleft (OFC) development, but studies are sparse and beset with limitations.

Methods: Population-based, maternal interview reports of drinking water filtration and consumption for 680 OFC cases (535 isolated) and 1826 controls were linked with DBP concentration data using maternal residential addresses and public water system monitoring data. Maternal individual-level exposures to trihalomethanes (THM)s and haloacetic acids (HAA)s (µg/L of water consumed) were estimated from reported consumption at home, work, and school.

Does Maternal Exposure to Secondhand Tobacco Smoke During Pregnancy Increase the Risk for Preterm or Small-for-Gestational Age Birth?

Introduction While associations between active smoking and various adverse birth outcomes (ABOs) have been reported in the literature, less is known about the impact of secondhand smoke (SHS) on many pregnancy outcomes. Methods We examined the relationship between maternal exposure to SHS during pregnancy and preterm (< 37 weeks gestation) and small-for-gestational age (SGA; assessed using sex-, race/ethnic-, and parity-specific growth curves) singleton births using non-smoking controls from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (1997-2011). Multivariable logistic regression models for household, workplace/school, and combined SHS exposure-controlled for maternal education, race/ethnicity, pre-pregnancy body mass index, and high blood pressure-were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

Pre-Zika descriptive epidemiology of microcephaly in Texas, 2008-2012.

Background: There are limited population-based studies on microcephaly. We characterized the epidemiology of microcephaly in Texas during a 5-year period (2008-2012), prior to the Zika epidemic in the Western hemisphere (2015). The associations of suspected risk factors were compared across four clearly defined case groups.

Population-based birth defects data in the United States, 2010-2014: A focus on gastrointestinal defects.

Background: Gastrointestinal defects are a phenotypically and etiologically diverse group of malformations. Despite their combined prevalence and clinical impact, little is known about the epidemiology of these birth defects. Therefore, the objective of the 2017 National Birth Defects Prevention Network (NBDPN) data brief was to better describe the occurrence of gastrointestinal defects.

Role of maternal occupational physical activity and psychosocial stressors on adverse birth outcomes.

Objectives: We examined the association of an array of estimated maternal occupational physical activities and psychosocial stressors during pregnancy with odds for preterm birth (PTB) and small-for-gestational age (SGA).

Methods: Data for infants born without major birth defects delivered from 1997 to 2009 whose mothers reported working at least 1 month during pregnancy were obtained from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. We linked occupational codes to the US Department of Labor's Occupational Information Network, which provides estimates of exposure for multiple domains of physical activity and psychosocial stressors by occupational categories.

Associations between maternal periconceptional exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke and major birth defects.

Background: While associations between secondhand smoke and a few birth defects (namely, oral clefts and neural tube defects) have been noted in the scientific literature, to our knowledge, there is no single or comprehensive source of population-based information on its associations with a range of birth defects among nonsmoking mothers.

Objective: We utilized data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a large population-based multisite case-control study, to examine associations between maternal reports of periconceptional exposure to secondhand smoke in the household or workplace/school and major birth defects.

Study Design: The multisite National Birth Defects Prevention Study is the largest case-control study of birth defects to date in the United States.

Data linkage between the National Birth Defects Prevention Study and the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) to assess workplace physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and emotional stressors during pregnancy.

Background: Knowledge of the prevalence of work-related physical activities, sedentary behaviors, and emotional stressors among pregnant women is limited, and the extent to which these exposures vary by maternal characteristics remains unclear.

Methods: Data on mothers of 6,817 infants without major birth defects, with estimated delivery during 1997 through 2009 who worked during pregnancy were obtained from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Information on multiple domains of occupational exposures was gathered by linking mother's primary job to the Occupational Information Network Version 9.