Source: Xinhua

04-24-2009 15:31

OTTAWA, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Mothers who suffer morning sickness during pregnancy have better chances to bear smarter babies, Canadian scientists have found out.

Mothers who suffer morning sickness during pregnancy have better chances to bear smarter babies, Canadian scientists have found out. (File photo)

Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children's Motherisk Program have discovered that morning sickness appears to be linked to enhanced neurodevelopment of the fetus.

For the study, 121 pregnant women were recruited between 1998 and 2003 through a morning sickness hotline run by the Motherisk program.

Participants were split into three groups: mothers who experienced morning sickness and were treated with diclectin (a drug used to treat nausea and vomiting during pregnancy); those who experienced morning sickness and did not take diclectin; and those who did not experience morning sickness.

The intelligence and behavior of the children of those pregnancies were then assessed when the kids were three years old and seven years old. The kids were given age-appropriate psychological tests, including measures of intelligence and behavior.

Other factors such as mother's IQ, number of cigarettes smoked per day, alcohol consumption and socioeconomic status were also taken into account.

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