Abstract
Background
Genesis 3:16 is the passage usually quoted by those who believe women have been cursed to give birth in pain. God punished Eve that she will have increased (painful) labor, after she was beguiled by the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit of knowledge. The Lord God said “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children”. Nevertheless, the word translated as “children” is the Hebrew word “banim” which means “boys”. Indeed, most interpreters translated boys as children. Yet, there is gaining scientific evidence that the gender does matter.
Objective
The present Editorial will discuss gender differences in perinatal medicine.
Conclusions
Male gender is an independent risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcome. Further research including endocrine and immunological tests is needed to clarify gender differences in birth outcome.
References
Sheiner E, Levy A, Feinstein U, Hallak M, Mazor M (2002) Risk factors and outcome of failure to progress during the first stage of labor: a population-based study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 81:222–226
Feinstein U, Sheiner E, Levy A, Hallak M, Mazor M (2002) Risk factors for arrest of descent during the second stage of labor. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 77:7–14
Hershkovitz R, Silberstein T, Sheiner E, Shoham-Vardi I, Holcberg G, Katz M, Mazor M (2001) Risk factors associated with true knots of the umbilical cord. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 98:36–39
Blickstein I, Shoham-Schwartz Z, Lancet M (1987) Predisposing factors in the formation of true knots of the umbilical cord-analysis of morphometric and perinatal data. Int J Gynecol Obstet 25:395–398
Sheiner E, Hadar A, Hallak M, Katz M, Mazor M, Shoham-Vardi I (2001) Clinical significance of fetal heart rate tracings during the second stage of labor. Obstet Gynecol 97:747–752
Dawes NW, Dawes GS, Moulden M, Redman CWG (1999) Fetal heart rate patterns in term labor vary with sex, gestational age, epidural analgesia, and fetal weight. Am J Obstet Gynecol 180:181–187
Bekedam DJ, Engelsbel S, Mol BW, Buitendijk SE, van der Pal-de Bruin KM (2002) Male predominance in fetal distress during labor. Am J Obstet Gynecol 187:1605–1607
Eogan MA, Geary MP, O’Connell MP, Keane DP (2003) Effect of fetal sex on labour and delivery: retrospective review. BMJ 326:137
Sheiner E, Levy A, Katz M, Hershkovitz R, Leron E, Mazor M (2004) Gender does matter in perinatal medicine. Fetal Diagn Ther 19:366–369
Lieberman E, Lang JM, Cohen AP, Frigoletto FD Jr, Acker D, Rao R (1997) The association of fetal sex with the rate of cesarean section. Am J Obstet Gynecol 176:667–671
Mocanu EV, Greene RA, Byrne BM, Turner MJ (2000) Obstetric and neonatal outcome of babies weighing more than 4.5 kg: an analysis by parity. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 92:229–233
Sheiner E, Shoham-Vardi I, Silberstein T, Katz M, Mazor M (2001) Failed vacuum extraction: maternal risk factors and pregnancy outcome. J Reprod Med 46:819–824
Sheiner E, Levy A, Hammel R, Hershkovitz R, Hallak M, Katz M, Mazor M (2006) Shoulder dystocia: risk factors and perinatal outcome. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 126:11–15
Levy A, Sheiner E, Hammel R, Hershkovitz R, Hallak M, Katz M, Mazor M (2006) Shoulder dystocia: a comparison between diabetic and non-diabetic women. Arch Gynecol Obstet 273:203–206
Casey BM, Lucas MJ, Mcintire DD, Leveno KJ (1997) Pregnancy outcomes in women with gestational diabetes compared with the general obstetric population. Obstet Gynecol 90:869–873
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sheiner, E. The relationship between fetal gender and pregnancy outcome. Arch Gynecol Obstet 275, 317–319 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-007-0341-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-007-0341-5