The researchers added that the findings were limited to mothers over 24 years of age and did not affect those who were younger than 24 and continued to work late into their pregnancies.
"We know low birth weight is a predictor of many things that happen later, including lower chances of completing school successfully, lower wages and higher mortality. We need to think seriously about parental leave, because — as this study suggests — the possible benefits of taking leave flexibly before the birth could be quite high", one of the study authors, Professor Marco Francesconi said.
Source: Medindia