Pregnant women who stand for too long each day may have smaller babies

Pregnant women who stand for too much at work may be stunting their baby's growth, says new research.

According to a study from Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, pregnant women who stood for lengthy periods at work had babies whose heads were around half an inch smaller.

According to Medical News Today, the study authors followed nearly 5000 mothers during their pregnancies.

About four in 10 of the women worked jobs that required them to stand for eight hours per day. 

Those women who stood for long hours had babies with smaller heads on average.

"While previous studies have looked at how standing for long periods of time may affect birth weight and delay birth – this is the first study to look at the effects on foetal growth,"  lead author of the study Alex Burdorf, reported BBC.

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"We were not surprised that head size was smaller in pregnant women who stand for a long time at work, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that it was only by a modest amount – 3 percent smaller than average at birth."

The differences in head size began to be apparent by the third trimester.

According to WebMed, the study does not confirm that smaller head sizes mean anything about brain development.

The study was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.