Stress during pregnancy may harm the growth of the baby.
Emphasizing the need for a smooth and tension-free environment essential for a healthy baby, a study from Princeton University, said children of mothers who faced stress from natural disasters like hurricanes or tropical storms during their pregnancy were more likely to have abnormal health conditions at birth.
"Probably the most important finding of our study is that it does seem like being subjected to stress in pregnancy has some negative effect on the baby, but that the effect is more subtle than some of the previous studies have suggested," lead researcher Janet Currie said, in a statement.
Investigators looked at birth records kept by Texas and meteorological information, which included children born in the state between 1996 and 2008, whose mothers faced tropical storms or hurricanes during pregnancy.
The data related to the children's health condition after birth was compared with birth details of their siblings. Finding a link between stress during pregnancy and its negative impact on newborn's health, researchers found mothers, staying 30 kilometers of a hurricane's path during their third trimester, 60 percent to have a baby with abnormal health conditions- the need to be kept on a ventilator for more than 30 minutes, experience meconium aspiration (a sign of fetal distress), and amniotic fluid at the time of delivery.
Stress hormones affect newborn
Researchers also were successful in linking the increase in the stress hormones found in newborn to the health problems.
"I think the takeaway finding is that it's worth doing more focused research on those pathways and looking for more subtle effects on the fetus than just looking at birth weight and preterm delivery," Currie said. "And it would be really great if we could follow over time and see what happens to children who are affected by these types of events."
The study was circulated in May by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The negative effects of stress on expecting mothers have always been a topic of discussion. According to the findings of a study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston, mother's stress during pregnancy may increase the risk of having babies with iron deficiency, further hindering their mental and physical growth.
