Various studies over the years have analyzed how the mother’s emotional state during pregnancy influences the baby’s health, finding that stress can affect it in different ways.
A recent study found that stress during pregnancy could influence the baby’s brain development , reminding us of the importance of taking care of the mother’s emotional health during this stage.
Published in the journal eLife , the study analyzed the influence of maternal stress during pregnancy, finding that the brains of babies can be shaped by the levels of stress experienced by the mother.
According to their results, stress levels in mothers, measured by a hormone related to anxiety and other health problems, are related to changes in areas of the infant brain associated with emotional development .
Unlike other studies that are carried out applying questionnaires to pregnant women, in this one an objective measure was used: the cortisol levels in the mother , in order to be able to study with greater precision the relationship that stress had on the brain development of their children. children.
As we know, cortisol is the body’s response to stress, and the more stress you have, the higher the levels of this hormone. During the study, cortisol levels were shown to be related to the development of the baby’s amygdala , an area of the brain known to be involved in childhood emotional and social development.
The researchers conclude that this study proves the importance of also taking into account the mental health of mothers during this stage, because in addition to the fact that the ideal is to live a calm pregnancy, they believe that this could explain why children whose mothers experienced high Stress levels during pregnancy may be more likely to have emotional problems in the future .
Photo | iStoco
Via | Technology Networks
In Babies and more | The mother’s stress during pregnancy can affect the baby’s personality: learn to fight it, is stress hereditary? A study analyzes the consequences of suffering from it during pregnancy
