Migraines increase mother's chance of colic baby

SAN FRANCISCO (WABC) -- Taking care of a baby with colic can be a challenge. Now, a new study says for some moms, it's an added challenge because they already suffer from migraine headaches.

Doctors performed a study with mothers who got migraines to see if the babies were affected in some way.

Researchers at the Headache Center in San Francisco, California, analyzed information about 154 mothers and their babies.

"They looked at the family history of migraine in the mother and in the father," said Dr. David Rothner, of the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital. "And low and behold, what they found is that the mothers who had migraines had children with twice as much colic as the general population."

Results show babies whose mothers had a history of migraines were 2.5 times more likely to have colic than infants whose mothers did not have a history of migraines.

Researchers say since migraines are a highly genetic disorder, infant colic may also be an early sign that a child could be predisposed to migraine headaches later in life. Dr. Rothner says in either case, moms with migraines may at least have an explanation as to why their babies are excessively crying.

"It also gives you an opportunity to prepare for it," he said. "So you can be thinking, my goodness if I have migraine, there's a greater chance that my child will have colic. That might also be some comfort. At least now I understand why that child has colic."

Pediatricians say that colic is usally gone by the time the baby is four months of age. So moms can prepare. And remember, it won't last long. Complete findings for this study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting.

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