Premature birth impacts a baby's love life in adulthood: study

PanARMENIAN.Net - A study out of the University of Warwick in England is drawing conclusions about how gestation period impacts love life.

According to the new paper published Friday, adults who were born premature were less likely to experience romantic relationships and have children than their full-term peers. They were more than twice as likely to never have sex.

The meta-analysis included data from more than 4 million participants who were born preterm (under 37 weeks gestation) and with low birth weight. Data showed that those born premature, compared to their full-term peers, were 28% less likely to form romantic relationships and 22% less likely to become parents.

And there were more findings related to those born early. Adults born preterm were 2.3 times less likely to have a sexual partner. Those born extremely pre-term, less than 28 weeks gestation, were 3.2 times less likely to have sexual relationships than full-term peers.

However, the study found, premature birth did not seem to impair the quality of relationships with partners and friends.

According to the investigation, made available in the American Medical Association's JAMA Network Open: "These findings highlight ... the importance of continued monitoring and adequate support of (preterm, low birth weight) individuals throughout life."