Maternal anxiety during pregnancy can affect the baby's brain

 Maternal anxiety during pregnancy can affect the baby's brain

The mental development of children of women with depression during pregnancy can be severely affected. Photo: File

WASHINGTON: If a mother suffers from stress and anxiety during pregnancy, it could affect the baby's brain development, according to a new survey.

The study was conducted by Professor Lampur Paul and his colleagues at Children's National Hospital, Washington, and was published in the December 7 issue of the American Journal of the American Medical Association's Open Journal. This research will help solve a long-standing problem in which a deep connection has been discovered between the psychological state of the mother and the mental development of the child. But experts call it dangerous and urge pregnant women to take steps to avoid all forms of mental and psychological stress.

Previous research has shown that if mothers suffer from stress, anxiety and depression during pregnancy, on the one hand, complications in motherhood increase, while on the other hand, social, psychological and behavioral problems also arise in their children. In this regard, experts scanned the baby in the mother's womb during the second and third trimesters with resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging and its data was collected.

During this time, long questionnaires were filled out from 50 women and specifically asked about their nervousness, sadness and anxiety. Special scans were taken of women who complained of depression and anxiety. It was found that the women who were suffering from insanity, depression and anxiety had many weak connections in the brain of their child which should be normal under normal circumstances.

Following this study, experts say that there is an urgent need to pay special attention to women's mental health and psychological counseling during pregnancy.