NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Maternal stress during pregnancy may have a negative impact on a fetus's neurological development, according to research from the University of Kentucky and the University of California, Riverside. That finding was presented at the Society of Behavioral Medicine's 19th annual meeting in New Orleans.
Dr. Pathik Wadhwa and colleagues studied 47 mother-infant pairs 6 weeks after birth and another 49 mother-infant pairs 3 years after birth to determine the effects of stress hormones on human brain development.
The investigators collected blood samples from the mothers during gestation, delivery, and after birth to measure stress hormone levels. The same analysis was done on fetal blood collected from the umbilical cord after delivery. The mothers completed interviews and questionnaires to assess their stress level before giving birth and infant temperament 6 weeks after birth. The researchers also evaluated the children's intellectual, emotional and social development at 3 years of age.
Wadhwa reports a significant association between infant temperamental difficulties at 6 weeks of age and high levels of prenatal stress and stress hormones. In addition, delays in language comprehension and expression, motor skills and social development were apparent in the children at 3 years age.
Wadhwa says these findings are "suggestive that stress during pregnancy is almost a toxin to fetal brain development." He adds that "maternal stress levels during pregnancy are highly predictive of less desirable ends of the scales" of infant neurodevelopment.
