The season in which a baby is conceived could effect whether it develops an allergy, according to a new study.

Research was conducted using 5,973 children who live in south-east Finland and were born between April 2001 and March 2006.

The results, which are published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, show that babies are more likely to suffer food allergies if their first three months in the womb occurred during springtime.

Around 11% of children whose 11th week in the womb was in April or May were more likely to experience a food allergy, in comparison with 6% of children whose 11th week was in December or January.

Overall, the April/May group was three times more likely to be sensitive to foods such as milk and eggs than the December/January group.

Experts have already shown a link between pollen and food allergies, and the latest study supports this association.

Checks on pollen levels over the study period show that levels of birch and alder pollen peaked during April and May.

Of this group, 18% had tested positive for food allergies by the time they were four.

The results show that by this age, sensitivity to food allergy varies according to month of birth, from 5% of children born in June/July to 10% for October/November.

Copyright ⌐ Press Association 2010

New research published has suggested that newborn babies may be putting on a brave face when doctors feed them sugar to pacify them during painful hospital procedures.

The study turns previous research on its head, as medical experts used to believe that feeding babies with doses of sugar eased their discomfort.

Sucrose sugar is routinely used, and currently recommended in international clinical guidelines, to "help the medicine go down" while carrying out a number of hospital procedures such as taking blood samples.

But the new study has shown that the nerve activity in the pain centres of babies` brains tells a different story.

According to the research, sugar does not work as a form of pain relief for babies.

The new study indicates that sugar merely has the effect of altering babies` facial expressions, giving the impression that they are feeling less pain.

An expert from the Medical Research Council (MRC), which funded the study, said the discovery has "significant implications" for the care of babies in hospital.

Scientists led by Rebeccah Slater, from University College London, studied 59 newborn babies who were given standard heel lance pricks to collect blood samples.

Copyright ⌐ Press Association 2010

A daily dose of aspirin could help pregnant women tackle or even prevent high blood pressure, a health watchdog has revealed.

High blood pressure has been linked to pre-eclampsia, a potentially dangerous condition for pregnant women.

Conditions linked to high blood pressure claim the lives of around 20 women every year, with pre-eclampsia being developed by 5% of first-time mothers, figures show. Around one in 10 women suffers from high blood pressure during pregnancy, while a small number of soon-to-be mothers have the problem before they become pregnant.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has recommended that women with high blood pressure at moderate to high risk of pre-eclampsia take a low dose (75mg) of aspirin. This should be taken every day from the 12th week of pregnancy until birth, according to the guideline for the NHS in England and Wales.

Aspirin is not routinely given to pregnant women and Nice hopes the advice will ensure consistent standards across the country. The guideline warns against giving women drugs called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), which can increase the risk of congenital abnormalities if taken during pregnancy.

Gail Johnson, Education and Professional Development Advisor at the Royal College of Midwives, said: "Midwives are seeing an increase in maternal obesity and older women becoming pregnant; this means that midwives and doctors are seeing more women at risk of, or with hypertensive disorders. The guideline will provide professionals with recommended pathways and treatment options to help to minimise the health risks associated with a raised blood pressure."

Copyright ⌐ Press Association 2010

Mothers are much less likely to suffer from depression after giving birth if they have regular contact with NHS health visitors, new research published in the Cambridge University Press journal Psychological Medicine has suggested.

But the study by experts from the universities of Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield said that proper training to help health visitors recognise the symptoms, and in ways to support mothers psychologically once the condition is assessed, are essential for reducing the instances of depression.

Lead author Professor Terry Brugha, of the University of Leicester Clinical Division of Psychiatry, Department of Health Sciences, recommended training in approaches based on either cognitive behavioural or listening techniques.

He said proper training in such techniques could lead to less instances of depression as recognition of mental health problems would be less reliant on visits to family doctors, who may not see the patient very often.

Previous research has suggested that one in 10 women suffer from depression following childbirth.

Copyright ⌐ Press Association 2010