Unplanned pregnancies linked to children with verbal development days

Surprise pregnancies may lead to children developing verbal skills at a slower rate than planned or IVF babies.

According to new data from the Millennium Cohort Study and published on the British Medical Journal website, unplanned babies were found to have a more limited vocabulary and poorer non-verbal skills due to their ‘disadvantaged’ circumstances.

Statistics show that this could mean between 30 – 40 per cent of children are already going to be slower to develop as this is the current number of unplanned pregnancies in the UK.

Mothers taking part in the Millennium Cohort Study, reported whether they had planned their pregnancy and their children’s verbal, non-verbal and spatial abilities were tested with the British Ability Scales when they reached the age of three and five years.

Children resulting from unplanned pregnancies were found to be four to five months behind planned children.

Children born through IVF were found to be three to four months ahead.