The influence of maternal weight and alcohol exposure on infant physical characteristics and neurodevelopmental outcomes
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 8, 2025

Construction of Vapor Chambers Used to Expose Mice to Alcohol During the Equivalent of all Three Trimesters of Human Development
Published on: July 13, 2014
Julie M Hasken1,2, Linda S Adair2, Stephanie L Martin2
1The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Nutrition Research Institute, 500 Laureate Way, Kannapolis, NC 28081, United States.
Background:
Mothers of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders tend to have lower weight compared to other mothers. Yet how alcohol and maternal weight may predispose infants to poorer physical growth and neurodevelopmental trajectories is relatively unexplained.
Methods:
South African mothers (n = 406) were recruited prenatally and their offspring were provided standardized dysmorphology and neurodevelopment examinations at 6 weeks and 9 months of age. Maternal weight was obtained postpartum, and linear mixed modeling determined whether postpartum maternal weight and prenatal alcohol exposure significantly influenced infant growth, dysmorphology, and neurodevelopment within the first year of life.
Results:
Postpartum maternal weight was positively associated with birth length, weight, and head circumference centile, but the rate of growth from birth to nine months was similar among all infants. Maternal weight was inversely associated with dysmorphology. Many infants in this population were performing within the borderline or extremely low range. Higher maternal weight was associated with significantly better cognitive and motor performance at 6 weeks; however, the rate of developmental growth was similar among all infants, regardless of postpartum maternal weight.
Conclusion:
Higher postpartum maternal weight may be a protective factor but does not eliminate the adverse effects of alcohol on infant growth and dysmorphology. Regardless of maternal weight, alcohol remains a powerful teratogen and moderate to high use prenatally can result in adverse infant physical and neurocognitive development.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Teratogenicity
Stress Prevention and Stress Management Techniques IV
Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Regression Toward the Mean

