Table 1 General characteristics of the studied mothers and newborns by tertiles of relative telomere length (rTL) in maternal blood and umbilical cord blood, respectively

Mothers

n = 57

n = 56

n = 56

 Leukocyte rTL

0.67 (0.33–0.83)

0.98 (0.84–1.1)

1.3 (1.1–1.9)

 Maternal age (years)

26 (15–41)

24 (12–40)

22 (14–40)

 Maternal education (years)

9 (0–16)

10 (0–14)

9 (0–17)

 Parity (n)

1 (0–11)

1 (0–12)

1 (0–7)

 Pre-pregnancy weight (kg)

52 (38–86)

52 (39–75)

52 (40–74)

 Height (cm)

153 (134–166)

152.5 (144–168)

152 (140.5–163)

 Serum folate (nmol/L)

27 (11.3–45.4)

25.9 (14.2–36.9)

24.7 (15.7–34.9)

 Serum vitamin D₃ (nmol/L)

43 (13–88)

41 (20–85)

44 (18–82)

 Hb (g/L)

137 (96–186)

137 (95–158)

138 (117–166)

 Coca chewing

21 (37%)

30 (55%)

24 (43%)

 Placental rTL (n = 98)

0.73 (0.53–1.2)

0.79 (0.37–1.2)

0.74 (0.33–1.1)

 Cord blood rTL (n = 98)

1.2 (1.0–1.5)

1.3 (0.98–1.4)

1.3 (1.1–1.6)

Newborns

n = 33

n = 33

n = 32

 Cord blood rTL

1.2 (0.98–1.2)

1.3 (1.2–1.3)

1.4 (1.3–1.7)

 Sex (boys; n (%))

10 (31%)

16 (48%)

15 (47%)

 Gestational age at birth (weeks)

39 (32–42)

39 (34–43)

39 (34–42)

 Birth weight (g)

3085 (1820–4500)

3050 (2400–3730)

3000 (2560–3650)

 Birth length (cm)

49 (43–51)

48 (45–51)

48 (41–51)

 Head circumference (cm)

34 (31–40)

33 (30–36)

34 (32–36)