Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Stress During Pregnancy Causes High Cortisol Levels in Their Kids

Research done at Bristol University in the UK has found that women who have high levels of anxiety during the late stages of pregnancy, had children who had higher cortisol levels when they reached 10 years. Researchers say many of these children may be more susceptible to anxiety.
This study of 74 children can be read in the journal of Biological Psychiatry. Saliva samples were taken from 10 year olds and tested four times a day for three school days. The mothers were questioned about their anxiety levels during pregnancy. Researchers found that there was a clear correlation between the two. They also pointed out that factors such as the child's personality, environment, lifestyle, and upbringing need to be taken into account when trying to predict susceptibility to depression or anxiety later in life. Researchers also point out that cortisol levels can work both ways. Low levels are linked to some mental health problems.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is the most obvious outcome known by every woman who ever became pregnant, but ignored by society in recognition of the outcome.

It is inconsistent to imagine that a pregnant woman under constant stress with high cortisol levels would not produce effects upon a developing infant intrauterine.

If what the mother experiences in her bloodstream is shared with the infant, it is impossible not to follow the logic that what she experiences, the infant experiences - on a chemical basis.

Obviously, nursing merely extends that reality, a huge implication for domestic violence or workplaces which produces fear, stress, and anxiety.

Anonymous said...

Hundreds of Thousands (Millions maybe? of African American Children in the United States' Ghettos live in conditions of severe poverty and violence. Most of their families are holding everything together by a thread and working desperately to keep it from falling apart. This stress, combined with the complete and total disregard for themselves that those living here are brainwashed to have has got to have some effect on the babies born into the hood. It's got to be no suprise then that the babies there grow up to be elementary school students who are diagnosed with ADHD and admitted into a desperately underfunded and therefore indadequate special education system.