研究表明压力大的母亲更易生女孩（在线收听）

　　Women who are stressed while trying for a baby are more likely to have girls, research suggests.

　　据英国《每日邮报》10月17日报道，研究表明，女性在计划怀孕产子时如果承受较大的压力，更有可能怀上女孩。

　　A study found that those who were under pressure at home, work or in their love life in the weeks or months before becoming pregnant had higher than usual odds of giving birth to a daughter rather than a son.

　　一项研究发现，那些在怀孕前处于家庭、工作或者感情生活压力下的女性，怀上女孩的几率比男孩大得多。

　　The finding, by Oxford University and US researchers, means the economic downturn could see more women give birth to daughters. The study follows others that have shown the number of baby boys goes down following major upheavals.

　　牛津大学和美国研究人员的这一发现意味着，在经济衰退时期，会有更多的女性产下女婴。在此之前，已有其他研究表明，在经历大的社会动乱之后新生男婴的总数会有所下降。

　　For instance, in the months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the number of boys born in New York plunged, while the economic chaos that followed the collapse of the Berlin Wall saw far fewer boys born than expected in the former East Germany in 1991.

　　比如，在9·11恐怖袭击后的数月内，纽约出生的男婴数量下降。而在柏林墙倒塌后引起的经济萧条时期，1991年东德出生的男婴比预期的少得多。

　　But the latest study is the first to link the phenomenon to the stresses and strains of everyday life and to rising levels of stress hormones.

　　但这项最新研究还是第一次将这种现象与日常生活的紧张压力以及增长的应激激素水平相联系。

　　Some 338 women from around the UK who were trying to get pregnant kept diaries about their lives and sex lives and filled in questionnaires about how stressed they felt. Levels of stress hormones including cortisol were measured in the months before pregnancy.