Migraines in Moms, Not Dads, Linked to Babies With Colic – via Medscape.com

Although past research has shown an association between maternal migraine and infants with colic, a new study suggests that migraine status in dads isn’t a risk factor.

As noted in this article, the cross-sectional survey study of more than 1,000 parents, the odds of having a colicky baby were 50% higher for mothers who reported having a history of migraine/probable migraine than their peers without migraine. The odds were more than twofold higher for moms who had at least 15 headache days during the previous month.

However, 29% of fathers with migraine/probable migraine had offspring with colic versus 31% without migraine.

For obstetricians, it’s worth counseling pregnant women with a history of migraine that they are more likely to have a baby with colic — and to let them know that colic is a time-limited phenomenon that isn’t their fault. It’s perhaps part of the genetic package, with babies that are predisposed for fussiness.