Fig. 4: Improved pregnancy outcome in second pregnancies.

Reproductive outcome including a litter size (1^st: n = 41, 2^nd: n = 25, 3^rd: n = 11; 1^st vs 2^nd: p = <0.0001, 1^st vs 3^rd: p = 0.0081) and (b) neonatal weight (1^st: n = 320, 2^nd: n = 253, 3^rd: n = 112; 1^st vs 3^rd: p = 0.0262, 2^nd vs 3^rd: p = 0.0004) was assessed on day of birth. Further, fetal growth and development were evaluated on gestation day (gd) 7.5 and 15.5. Fetuses from gd 7.5 (1^st: n = 7, 2^nd: n = 6) were stained against (c) Sox3 (1^st vs 2^nd: p = 0.0016) and (d) Nanog to assess early fetal development. Representative pictures are shown in (e). On gd 15.5, pregnancy outcome was assessed including (f) abortion rate (1^st: n = 14, 2^nd: n = 12; 1^st vs 2^nd: p = 0.0108, g fetal weight (1^st: n = 115, 2^nd: n = 106) and h-j placental histomorphology (1^st: n = 12, 2^nd: n = 15; h 1^st vs 2^nd: p = 0.0463; j 1^st vs 2^nd: p = 0.0133. k Representative photomicrographs illustrating mid-sagittal sections of gd 15.5 placental tissue from first (top) and second (bottom) pregnancy. Black line in the picture denotes 1000 µm, green lines encircle the labyrinth, blue lines surround the junctional zone. Data are presented as violin plots with individual point, median and quartiles, and the statistical significance between first and second pregnancy was calculated using One-way-Anova (comparing three group) or Student’s t-test (comparing two groups), respectively (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001). Source data are provided as a Source Data file.