A Mother's Stress Can Affect Child Development
The researchers from Imperial College London hope to raise families' awareness of the importance of reducing levels of stress and anxiety in expectant mothers. They say that reducing stress during pregnancy could help prevent thousands of children from developing emotional and behavioral problems.
During pregnancy, the placenta is crucial for fetal development and it usually protects the unborn baby from the stress hormone cortisol. However, when the mother is stressed, the placenta becomes less protective and the mother's cortisol may have a lasting effect on the fetus.
The researchers' work has found that maternal stress and anxiety can alter the development of the baby's brain. This result is a greater risk of developing emotional problems such as anxiety or depression, behavioral problems such as ADHD, and being considerably slower at learning. Some studies have even suggested that it may impact likelihood of later violent or criminal behavior. The findings have suggested that the effects of stress during pregnancy can last many years after birth, even into adolescence.
Professor Vivette Glover, the lead researcher behind the exhibit from the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology at Imperial College London, said: "We all know that if a mother smokes or drinks a lot of alcohol while pregnant it can affect her fetus. Our work has shown that other more subtle factors, such as her emotional state, can also have long-term effects on her child.”
The researchers say that the stress hormone cortisol may be one way in which the fetus is affected by the mother's anxiety during pregnancy. Usually the placenta protects the unborn baby from the mother's cortisol, by producing an enzyme that breaks the hormone down. When the mother is very stressed, this enzyme works less well and lets her cortisol through the placenta. By studying the amount of cortisol in the amniotic fluid, the Imperial researchers' latest study suggests that the higher the level of cortisol in the womb, the lower the toddler's cognitive development or "baby IQ" at 18 months.