pregnancyinduced leukocytosis in yemenite jews benign neutropenia is often found among healthy yemenite jews an assessment was made of the magnitude of laborinduced leukocytosis in 44 yemenite jewish women by comparing their hematological values during labor with those of 27 nonyemenite women a statistically significant difference was found in the absolute counts of the white blood cells wbc during delivery between the two groups the values being lower among yemenite jews 10291 422 vs 11759 630 x 1091 and similar findings were detected among their infants the low wbc counts in the yemenite group at parturition were also associated with significantly lower plasma cortisol levels yemenite group 337 35 microgramsdl controls 493 x 29 microgramsdl a correlation was found between serum cortisol levels and the magnitude of leukocytosis in both groups of women and their infants these results suggest that a low basal corticosteroid output may contribute to the low white blood cell counts detected in some ethnic groups like the yemenite jews