Question

New research from King’s College London has found that maternal stress before and during pregnancy could affect a baby’s brain development.

In their study published in Biological Psychiatry, MRC Doctoral Researcher in Perinatal Imaging and Health, Alexandra Lautarescu and Head of Advanced Neuroimaging, Professor Serena Counsell, for the first time looked at the relationship between maternal stress and brain development in 251 premature babies.

They found evidence for impaired development of a white matter tract, the uncinate fasciculus, in babies whose mothers experienced more stress in the prenatal period.

The mothers completed a questionnaire which asked them about their experiences of stressful events, which ranged from everyday stress such as moving house or taking an exam to more severe stressors like experiencing bereavement, separation or divorce. A score of severity of stress was calculated based on how many stressors they experienced as well as how severe those stressors were. This is what was related to the baby’s brain. The researchers used a medical imaging technique called diffusion tensor imaging that was specifically developed to look at the structure of the white matter. The white matter tract has previously been implicated in anxiety disorders – adults that have an anxiety disorder may show changes in this tract.

“We found that in the mums that were more stressed during pregnancy and the period before birth, white matter was altered in the babies,” said lead researcher Alexandra Lautarescu from King’s College London.

Scientists say the study highlights the importance of providing support for expectant mothers, as previous studies have shown that interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy can help mitigate adverse outcomes in the baby. Clinicians have an important role to play when speaking with expectant mothers. While questions are asked about depressive symptoms, few questions are asked about general stress and anxiety. Women who deal with stressful life events during pregnancy are not picked up by their GPs or by their health care providers very often.

“It is not diagnosed as often as it should be during pregnancy and we are trying to emphasise that maternal mental health during pregnancy can impact the baby’s brain development which may impact on their outcomes later in life,” Alexandra Lautarescu said. “No one is asking these women about stress and hence they don’t receive any support.

They found evidence for impaired development of a white matter tract, the uncinate fasciculus, in babies whose mothers experienced more stress in the prenatal period. The image is credited to Alexandra Lautarescu et al.

“Antenatal services need to be aware that it is important to think about stress of the mums and we need to have some kind of support there for the mums who identify that they are stressed. If we try to help these women either during the pregnancy or in the early post-natal period with some sort of intervention this will not only help the mother, but may also prevent impaired brain development in the baby and improve their outcomes overall.”

There is some evidence to suggest that if mothers experience poor mental health during pregnancy that leads to adverse outcomes in the baby – obstetric outcomes, lower birth weight or premature birth. A mother’s poor mental health may also lead to altered early behavior such as more frequent crying.

Further studies are needed to understand whether the observed changes in the brain development of these babies will lead to adverse outcomes later in life.

Questions:

1/ A summary of the main point of the study 2/ describe the study that was done 3/ What was the conclusion? 4/ Were you convinced? 5/ What could have been done to further support their findings?

Can you please read the article and please answer all Questions.

Can you please answer as soon as possible. THANK YOU

Answer 1

1. A summary of the main point of the study.

The study conducted by King's college , London sheds light on the relationship between stress experienced by mothers and the effect it has on the brain development of their babies. The results of the study revealed that babies of mothers who experienced stress during their antenatal period, had impaired development of white matter tract. The study implicates that it is important to detect stress in mothers during the antenatal period and provide timely interventions so that impairements in brain development among babies can be avoided.

2. Describe the study that was done.

Aim: to determine the relationship between maternal stress and brain development among premature babies born to these mothers.

Sample: 251 premature babies and their mothers

method/tools: A Questionnaire was given to mothers to assess the stressful events experienced by them during pregnancy. Severity of stress score was calculated based on the number of stressors and their severity. A diffusion Tensor imaging was done to observe the structure of the white matter of the babies born to these mothers. The mothers stress scores and the stress experiences was related to the results of the imaging study done for the babies.

results /Findings: Impaired development of white matter tract, the uncinate fasciculus was observed among babies of mothers who experienced more stress during pregnancy and the period before birth.

3. What was the conclusion

1. Mothers who experienced more stress during the prenatal/antenatal period had babies with impairements in their white matter.
2. often times, women with stress is missed out by clinicians and antenatal service providers.
3. clinicians and G.Ps must ask more questions related to stress and anxiety to expectant mothers.
4. Antenatal services and G.Ps need to identify mothers with stress and help them with interventions to cope with stress during their pregnancy and early post natal period.
5. Early life impairement in the brain development of babies may have adverse implications on their overall health in later stages of life.

4. Were you convinced ?

Yes, I am convinced with the findings of the study and its implications. The study brings to light the fact that although much importance is given to physical health and well being of mothers during the antenatal period, very less focus is given to their mental health especially anxiety and stress. identification of stressors must become an important component of antenatal health services and interventions to cope with stress must be implemented early on the antenatal period.

5. What could have been done to furthur support their findings?

1. A comparative study to assess the brain development among babies born to mothers who experience high levels of stress and lower levels of stress could be done to authenticate the findings of the study and to filter out the possible confounding variables.
2. research into the implications of the observed white matter changes in the babies on their future life needs to be done to understand if there are adverse outcomes to the observed changes