Stress in pregnant mothers can affect babies' hearts, says study

Washington DC According to recent research knowing that your unborn fetus has congenital heart disease can cause pronounced maternal stress anxiety and depression that can lead to impaired development in key brain regions of the babies before they are born The study was published in the journal JAMA PediatricsWhile additional research is needed the Childrens National Hospital study authors say their unprecedented findings underscore the need for universal screening for psychological distress as a routine part of prenatal care and taking other steps to support stressedout pregnant women and safeguard their newborns developing brainsCatherine Limperopoulos PhD director of the Center for the Developing Brain at Childrens National and the studys corresponding author said We were alarmed by the high percentage of pregnant women with a diagnosis of a major fetal heart problem who tested positive for stress anxiety and depressionEqually concerning is how prevalent psychological distress is among pregnant women generally We report for the first time that this challenging prenatal environment impairs regions of the fetal brain that play a major role in learning memory coordination and social and behavioral development making it all the more important for us to identify these women early during pregnancy to intervene Limperopoulos addedCongenital heart disease CHD structural problems with the heart is the most common birth defect Still it remains unclear how exposure to maternal stress impacts brain development in fetuses with CHDThe multidisciplinary study team enrolled 48 women whose unborn fetuses had been diagnosed with CHD and 92 healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies Using validated screening tools they found that 65 percent of pregnant women expecting a baby with CHD tested positive for stress27 percent of women with uncomplicated pregnancies tested positive for stress 44 percent of pregnant women expecting a baby with CHD tested positive for anxiety 26 percent of women with uncomplicated pregnancies tested positive for anxiety 29 percent of pregnant women expecting a baby with CHD tested positive for depression and 9 percent women with uncomplicated pregnancies tested positive for depressionAll told they performed 223 fetal magnetic resonance imaging sessions for these 140 fetuses between 21 and 40 weeks of gestation They measured brain volume in cubic centimeters for the total brain as well as volumetric measurements for key regions such as the cerebrum cerebellum brainstem and left and right hippocampusMaternal stress and anxiety in the second trimester were associated with smaller left hippocampi and smaller cerebellums only in pregnancies affected by fetal CHD Whats more specific regions the hippocampus head and body and the left cerebellar lobe were more susceptible to stunted growth The hippocampus is key to memory and learning while the cerebellum controls motor coordination and plays a role in social and behavioral developmentThe hippocampus is a brain structure that is known to be very sensitive to stress The timing of the CHD diagnosis may have occurred at a particularly vulnerable time for the developing fetal cerebellum which grows faster than any other brain structure in the second half of gestation particularly in the third trimesterYao Wu PhD a research associate working with Limperopoulos at Childrens National and the studys lead author said Our next goal is exploring effective prenatal cognitivebehavioural interventions to reduce psychological distress felt by pregnant women and improve neurodevelopment in babies with CHDCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates