Pregnant women staying near greener surroundings deliver heavier babies, a new research suggests.

In order to understand the impact of green surroundings during pregnancy and birth outcomes, researchers from Israel and Spain examined almost 40,000 single live births. They categorized land that was partly or completely covered with grass, trees, shrubs and or other vegetations as green spaces.

"We found that overall, an increase of surrounding greenery near the home was associated with a significant increase of birth weight and decreased risk for low birth weight," said Prof. Michael Friger, of BGU's Department of Public Health, in a press release. "This was the first study outside of the United States and Europe demonstrating associations between greenery and birth weight, as well as the first to report the association with low birth weight."

The analysis also showed that economically backward areas without any green spaces had babies with the lowest birth weight.

"The application of remote sensing data on surrounding green areas enabled our study to take small-scale green spaces (eg, street trees and green verges) into account, while the OpenStreetMap data determined the major green spaces," Friger said.

Previous researches about effect of greener environment showed that it could help alleviate dementia symptoms and effectively reduce depression and anxiety. Researchers explained that green spaces have therapeutic properties on people suffering neurodegenerative diseases. According to them, greener surroundings help to promote relaxation and activity while reducing irritability experienced by many dementia sufferers, particularly those who remain cooped up in homes or assisted living facilities.

The current study was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.