Weight of baby in womb be predicted by the pregnant woman's urine sample

A baby's birth weight can now be predicted with mother to-be's urine, tells a new study. According to Biomed Central study, that urine of the pregnant woman can help in identifying the lifestyle interventions which can further help in maintaining a healthy birth weight for baby.

Abnormal fetal growth and birth weight are well-established indicators of chronic diseases later in life that include development of type-2 diabetes and obesity.

Mireille Toledano, co-lead author of the research said, ‘We used a technique called NMR spectroscopy to identify, for the first time, a panel of 10 urinary metabolites in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy that were associated with greater fetal growth and increased birth weight. These metabolites included steroid hormones and important biological building blocks called branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs).’

BCAAs are essential nutrients that are vital during pregnancy as an energy source for the growing fetus.changes in BCAAs and other metabolites detected in the urine were able to describe 12 percent of the change in birth weight. This did not depend on other factors such as parent's own weight and maternal smoking.