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Women who eat steak, rich in vitamin B-12, during the first three months of their pregnancy are up to 8 times more likely to have babies who cry less

Public Health Service researchers in the Netherlands measured the amount of B12 in the blood of nearly 3,000 pregnant women at their first pre-natal appointment at three months. They then measured how often babies cried after birth and for how long.
 
The babies of mothers whose blood contained the least amount of B12 at the three-month test were up to eight times more likely to cry for prolonged periods than those with the highest levels. On average, five per cent of mothers with low blood levels of B12 gave birth to babies who cried a lot while only about one per cent of women with the most B12 reported that their baby cried excessively.
 
Nutritional origin
 
“This study provides first evidence for an early nutritional origin in infant crying behavior,” wrote the researchers. “The results suggest infants born to women with a low B12 status during pregnancy are at a higher risk for excessive crying behavior in their first months of life."
 
The researchers defined excessive crying as an average of three hours a day in the past week.
 
Excessive crying may be due to mothers whose blood was low vitamin B12 giving birth to babies who do not have a fully developed nervous system, suggest the researchers.
 
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