Life style, work and stress, and pregnancy outcome

Several environmental factors affect the fetus and thereby the outcome of pregnancy. Recent studies have confirmed a relation between stress and pregnancy outcome; furthermore they have indicated that biological measures of stress may predict risk of complications. Altered sex ratio may be an interesting way of measuring the effect of stress during pregnancy. Stress and work load during pregnancy seem to be related to time until conception and to becoming pregnant through assisted reproduction. Drinking large amounts of alcohol is hazardous, but drinking one drink per day appears to be safe. The effect of passive smoking continues to be a matter of debate.