Mental Distress of Women During Pregnancy Affects Offspring’s Cognition

Toddler’s cognitive development may get affected when exposed to stress, anxiety, and depression during pregnancy as per a study at the Children’s National Hospital, published in JAMA Network Open. The study also stated that along with the reduced cognitive development, there were also increased changes in internalizing and dysregulation behaviors among the offspring.

Brain Stressors during Pregnancy

The team followed a cohort of 97 pregnant women and their babies. The findings further suggest that persistent psychological distress after the baby is born may influence the parent–child interaction and infant self-regulation.

In specific, the team noted changes in the sulcal depth and left hippocampal volume, when the fetus was in the womb — emphasizing the neurodevelopment issues seen after birth.

“By identifying the pregnant women with elevated levels of psychological distress, clinicians could recognize those babies who are at risk for later neurodevelopmental impairment and might benefit from early, targeted interventions,” says Catherine Limperopoulos, PhD, chief, and director of the Developing Brain Institute at Children’s National and senior author of the study.

Further studies are hereby required with a larger sample size to reflect these findings in diverse regions and populations.

Source-Medindia