What happens during pregnancy could impact multiple sclerosis risk later in life

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-01-13 03:00

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Factors during pregnancy including the size of the baby and mum's diabetes could influence bub's chances of developing multiple sclerosis (MS) later in life, according to international researchers, who say this could help us better understand how the condition develops. The researchers say factors such as excess weight or diabetes in childhood are already known to influence MS risk, and to investigate whether there are even earlier factors at play, they compared pregnancy outcomes of over a million people born in Norway from 1967-1989 - 4,295 of whom had developed MS by the end of the study. The researchers say people who were large for their gestational age were more likely to develop MS and those smaller for gestational age had a lower risk. Maternal diabetes was linked to a twofold risk of MS, while there was no link for preterm birth, placental abruption (separation of the placenta from the wall of the uterus during pregnancy) or blood pressure problems, the researchers say.