For infants, good mothering makes up for prenatal stress

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Stressful pregnancy? Good mothering in the infant's early months may make up for the risks the baby faced in the womb, according to a new study in the US.Research shows that foetuses exposed to high levels of stress hormone -- linked with babies' poor cognitive development -- can escape this fate if their mothers provide them sensitive care during infancy and toddler-hood.

The new study represents the first, direct human evidence that foetuses exposed to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol may have trouble paying attention or solving problems later on.

The new study represents the first, direct human evidence that foetuses exposed to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol may have trouble paying attention or solving problems later on.

But what may be more intriguing is the study's second finding - that this negative link disappears almost entirely if the mother forges a secure connection with her baby.

"Our results shape the argument that foetal exposure to cortisol - which may in part be controlled by the mother's stress level - and early caregiving experience combine to influence a child's neurodevelopment," said study author Thomas O'Connor, professor of psychiatry and of psychology at the University of Rochester Medical Centre (URMC), New York.

"If future studies confirm these findings, we'll need to not only engineer ways to reduce stress in pregnancy, but we'll need to also promote sensitive caregiving by moms and dads," said O'Connor.

For the study, researchers recruited 125 women in an urban maternity hospital, taking a sample of their amniotic fluid so that stress hormones in it could be measured, said an URMC release.

These findings were published online in Biological Psychiatry.

Source - IANS

Image Source - Unsplash