PERSONAL HEALTH : Type A Babies Can Blame Mom

Women with hard-driving, intense personalities can expect to give birth to hard-driving, intense babies, suggests a study in the March issue of Pediatrics.

Other research has shown that Type A parents often end up with Type A teen-agers. But that tendency was thought to be learned.

The new study by pediatrician Steven J. Parker and David E. Barrett involved 72 healthy, middle-class women pregnant for the first time. Four weeks before delivery, all were tested for typical Type A traits, which can increase the risk of heart disease in adulthood.

Slightly more than half the mothers-to-be (all of whom worked outside the home) fit the Type A criteria: They were likely to be highly involved in their work, to enjoy competition and to be impatient.

When their babies were tested shortly after birth, those of the Type A moms tended to exhibit Type A behaviors. According to the study, they responded “vigorously” to their surroundings. That is to say they cried a lot.

Whether this means the babies inherited their mothers’ intensity remains to be seen, says Parker, who says an excess production of maternal stress hormones during pregnancy may trigger such newborn behaviors.

But critics charge that the Type A test itself is flawed when it comes to women. The test was designed for middle-aged men.