By Solarina Ho, Staff Writer, CTVNews.ca
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Toronto Canada (CTV Network) — Increased depression, anxiety and stress during pregnancy can alter the fetal brain, negatively impacting a child’s early cognitive development, a new study suggests, drawing attention to the importance of mental health support for pregnant women.
Previous research found that anxiety during pregnancy seemed to affect a child’s brain development and that maternal mental health could change the biochemistry and structure of the baby’s brain in the womb.
The small study conducted by Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC, published Friday in JAMA Network Open, is believed to be the first of its kind to show that altered fetal brain caused by exposure to psychological distress may be negatively associated with child neurodevelopment. including social-emotional development.
Stress-related symptoms are one of the most common problems in pregnancy, experienced by about a quarter of all pregnant women, including those with healthy pregnancies and high socioeconomic status.
“What is clear is that early interventions could help mothers to reduce their stress, which can have a positive impact on their symptoms and thus their baby long after birth,” she said in a statement. lead author of the study, Catherine Limperopoulos. Limperopoulos is the head and director of the hospital’s Developing Brain Institute, one of the top 10 pediatric hospitals in the United States.
For this study, a cohort of 97 pregnant women and their babies was recruited for a longitudinal observational study between January 2016 and October 2020. Longitudinal studies involve examining the same participants multiple times to see if changes occur over a certain period of time. time frame. weather.
Each of 87 participants had two fetal scans, for a total of 184 fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) visits. Maternal psychological distress was measured between 24 and 40 weeks’ gestation, and an infant neurodevelopmental test was also completed at 18 months.
The scientists noted changes in the depth of the sulci, or folds, in the fetal brain and the volume of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that plays an important role in learning and memory. These changes could explain some of the developmental problems seen after birth, including socioemotional problems, self-regulation and difficulty establishing positive relationships, including parent-child interactions, the researchers said.
“In addition, we found that prenatal maternal stress, even if it did not reach the severity of a mental disorder, was associated with decreased infant cognitive performance,” they wrote in the study.
“This finding is in line with the results of previous studies that showed cognitive impairments in children after early exposure to maternal stress… Our findings suggest that although the prevalence of antenatal maternal distress in our cohort may not be as high as in the high-risk population, its association with infant outcomes cannot be ignored.”
The participants in this study were healthy and had low-risk pregnancies. Most were employed, well educated, and lived in areas with good access to health care. Despite the favorable factors, 36 percent of the participants had levels of stress, anxiety, and/or depression that exceeded the threshold for positivity.
Additional future studies with a larger cohort from different population groups and geographic regions would be needed to further confirm the results, they added.
The study cited several limitations, including the fact that the distress assessment might not fully reflect the parents’ state of mind throughout the pregnancy. While cognitive, language, and motor skills were assessed by a licensed psychologist, infants’ mental health status and socioemotional assessments were self-reported by parents. Results may not reflect other geographic areas and socioeconomic population groups.
Overall, the researchers said mounting evidence underscores the importance of mental health support for pregnant women.
“These findings are particularly illuminating, given the nature of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic … and the underexplored link between heightened maternal distress during the pandemic and the health of the next generation of babies,” the authors wrote, and noted that more than a million babies have been born so far in the US during the pandemic.
“However, we lack knowledge about the influence of pandemic-related maternal distress on infants’ long-term neurodevelopment. Our ongoing studies will continue to explore the association between increased maternal distress amid the pandemic and children’s health throughout their lives.”
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