Lower birth weight of Dutch neonates who were in utero at the time of the 9/11 attacks.

Objective: Maternal stress during pregnancy has been reported to have an adverse influence on fetal growth. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on the United States have provoked feelings of insecurity and stress worldwide. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that maternal exposure to these acts of terrorism via the media had an unfavorable influence on mean birth weight in the Netherlands.

Methods: We compared birth weights of 1885 Dutch neonates who were in utero during the attacks with those of 1258 neonates who were in utero exactly 1 year later.

Results: In the exposed group, birth weight was lower than in the nonexposed group (difference, 48 g; 95% confidence interval=13.6, 82.9; P=.006). The difference in birth weight could not be explained by tobacco use, maternal age, parity, or other potential confounders or by shorter pregnancy durations.

Conclusion: These results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that exposure of Dutch pregnant women to the 9/11 events via the media has had an adverse effect on the birth weight of their offspring.