Researchers seeking reasons for low birth weights and premature births among American babies needed to compare their overall numbers with the births in a distinct culture.

They turned to Lancaster County's Amish.

The researchers braced for a poor showing. After all, they surmised, these are women less educated than their non-Amish peers. They are exposed to pesticides, and they drink well water that sometimes contains baby-threatening nitrates.

The incidence of genetic disorders and birth defects among the Amish is well documented. Amish women generally don't seek out sophisticated prenatal care and usually deliver at home.

But in a first-of-its-kind study carried out by Franklin & Marshall College's Center for Opinion Research, researchers were astounded by what they found.

Dispelling many myths, Amish women here were less likely to have underweight babies, were more fertile and were no more likely to have premature babies than women in the general population.

Among the likely reasons, analysts concluded: less stress and depression and a culture that welcomes and supports mothers-to-be.

"Amish women may be more prepared to become pregnant in that they expect it, desire it, lead a lifestyle that supports it, and have the social support necessary to have a successful outcome," concludes the study, which appears in the current issue of Women's Health Issues. The publication is a peer-reviewed journal of medical research under the auspices of The George Washington University.

Another study surprise: Amish women do seek traditional medical care and hospitals when they feel they need such modern facilities, and many do take multivitamins during pregnancy.

The study and its surprising results are receiving worldwide attention. It was a highlight at an international conference on Amish culture last week at Elizabethtown College.

"There are a great deal of misconceptions about the Amish, and whatever we can do to improve our understanding is beneficial," says Berwood Yost, who designed and carried out the survey as director of F&M's Center for Opinion Research.

The Amish study was conceived as a result of a larger study into the causes of pregnancy outcomes that targeted 2,002 women between the ages of 18 and 45 in 28 southcentral Pennsylvania counties, including Lancaster.

When the Penn State Central Pennsylvania Center of Excellence for Research on Pregnancy Outcomes approached Yost about doing the survey of local Amish women, he recognized the challenge but readily accepted.

Yost and about a dozen of his staff tracked down eligible Amish women of child-bearing age by scouring the Church Directory of the Lancaster County Amish.

They knew they just couldn't march down farm lanes and begin asking personal questions. Instead, for initial contacts, they used nine Amish women as liaisons provided by Dr. Holmes Morton, founder of the Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg.

Between November 2004 and June 2005, a total of 288 local Amish women were interviewed extensively.

Over the months, the researchers came to abide by the nuances of Amish life. For example, they found it was bad timing to begin their study during the Amish marrying season. Interviewers quickly learned that they would find nobody home on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

They also found that Saturdays were not productive days as Amish children were not in school and might try to eavesdrop on interviews.

Some of the questions designed for non-Amish women were deleted on the advice of Amish consultants.

Queries about alcohol, drug and tobacco use were removed since they are banned in Amish culture and the women would not likely admit to using them, consultants explained.

But, to the researchers' surprise, the Amish liaisons recommended leaving in the study questions about use of birth control devices. Birth control is sometimes used by Amish women, despite being forbidden, the liaisons advised.

Indeed, in the survey, 21 percent of the 249 women who responded to the question admitted to using birth control, mainly condoms.

Ten percent reported depression, and two women reported being physically abused by their husbands.

Morton, who encouraged the study, said this morning that he found the results interesting, though not surprising to him.

He said he was disappointed that the study didn't isolate genetic disorders in its results. He predicted that, contrary to common perception, the rate of genetic disorders among the Amish is no higher than in the general population.

"You don't see sickle-cell anemia or cystic fibrosis in the Amish," he said.

"I wasn't surprised that they (Amish women) were generally satisfied to be pregnant. I was surprised that more women didn't talk about post-partum depression or depressive illness within their families. That is a big problem in the Amish population, " Morton said.

The Amish study and the larger study on causes of underweight babies and premature births in the region has spawned a popular course at F&M.

"Our students — many of them are not local — found it fascinating that these are people who live with us," observed Kirk Miller, a biology professor who helps teach the course and who prepared the statistics for the study of Amish women and their pregnancies.

A follow-up study of the Amish women is being planned by Yost and the center.

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