Maternal Stress as Worrisome as Other Pregnancy Risks?

As established in recent studies, maternal stress has a risk on a fetus’s neurological development. Maternal mental health has an essential part, not only for mother’s but the fetus. Risks such as preterm labor, autism, schizophrenia, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Maternal stress effects the amygdalae of a fetus; their fight-or-flight reactions, memory, behavior, social skills, sensory processing, and emotional learning and regulation. Smoking, drugs, drinking, pre-existing diseases, have all been linked has big risks when pregnant. In 2004, non-human research found that prenatal maternal distress negatively influences long-term learning, motor development, and behavior in their offspring. In other studies, maternal stress was linked to postnatal developmental disorders and psychiatric issues that have long term effects,. “Diverse health outcomes were considered in animal studies, some being useful models for depression, schizophrenia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in human populations.” So how serious of a risk is stress during pregnancy? In a study, we can investigate how maternal stress may compare to issues such as smoking, drugs, drinking, pre-existing diseases. Looking specific women who report stressors as a factor in their pregnancy and the impact on the babies compared to the correlation between other pregnancy risks. The study will look at 20 women who report stress as factor and 20 women from the other risks. The main goal of this study is to inform the public how serious of a risk maternal stress is on a fetus’s development.