A new study out of the Netherlands suggests that boring tasks, particularly household chores like vacuuming and sweeping, may release stress hormones that are involved in triggering early labor in pregnant women.
The study, published in the journal Pediatric Epidemiology, compiled data from 11,759 new moms on physical activity during pregnancy, child’s birth weight and the the length of their pregnancy. It found that women who did large amounts of “mentally unstimulated” work, including housework, had up to a 25 percent higher chance of giving birth at least three weeks early.
Another surprising factoid the study turned up was that women working night shifts seemed to have slightly heavier babies. It’s unclear what causes the trend, but it maybe that women who work through pregnancy tend to be healthier.
Exercise in general, however, was found to promote healthy birth weights, while leading an unusually sedentary lifestyle actually increased the odds of having an underweight baby.
Researcher Hajo Wildschut, of Erasmus University in Rotterdam, told the Daily Mail: “Pregnancy is not a disease. In fact, most women who are pregnant are healthy and most of them are being delivered of perfectly healthy babies. Women who are healthy and do not have pregnancy complications should not restrict their activities in order to achieve a better pregnancy outcome. They may safely continue their normal daily physical activities, including strenuous activities like jogging, squash and weight training even until late in pregnancy.”
