Nighttime delivery boosts risk for babies, study says

Here's an odd study from Stanford University:

Babies born in the early evening or late at night are much more likely to die in their first four weeks of life than those born during daytime hours, according to a new Stanford University review of more than 3.3 million California births from 1992 through 1997.

The findings were true of big babies and small babies, and those born in community hospitals and regional medical centers. Even after taking into consideration a mother's prenatal care, complications during pregnancy or delivery and the baby's gender, there were still a great number of deaths that seemed to have no other risk factor than the time of day the baby was born.

San Jose Mercury registration required