Effects Of Stress On Fetal Development

The research is discussing the effects of prenatal stress (PS) on the development of socioemotional symptoms as well as neurodevelopmental disorders. The study arises from existing literatures where a significant relationship has been established between prenatal stress and social deficits such as autism and attention-deficit hypersensitivity disorder among children and schizophrenia among adolescents. King et al. identifies exposures to environmental hardships and stressful events as the underlying factor in the development of PS (274). The aspect has a negative impact on the immune and endocrine system as well as neurological development (Charil et al. 56). Studies have revealed that PS affects several aspects of brain development in the fetal stage. It increases rate of cell death and reduces rate of proliferation in the hypothalamus-pituitary axis (Schoenfeld and Gould 15).

To best comprehend human life from conception to death, it is important to have an understanding of the foundations of human development. A persons’ origin and obstacles endured during early life are important building blocks that shape where they are headed. This key factor better allows therapists to assist in helping an individual learn and obtain a better grasp on their developing lifespan from beginning to end. The focus for this paper will deal with the relationship between the pregnant mother and her fetus. It will be a reflection on how she responds to life stressors and how they can help or hinder the prenatal development of the fetus in the womb and thereafter.

Although there are many factors that affect the development of the fetus, research on the specific effects of prenatal maternal stress and the resulting negative outcomes for the development of the fetus will be reviewed. While there is knowledge of these harmful effects in scientific and medical communities, researchers are still in the midst of discovering the results of these negative effects on human development. An overall review of the literature suggests that this topic is still relatively new in research as most of the articles make note that despite the amount of current research studies, there are still many unanswered questions.

When pregnant especially for the first time many women inform themselves on things they can do that are beneficial for the growth and development of their baby and things they should avoid or not do since it can be dangerous for their baby such as smoking, drinking alcohol, and especially being under stress during the first months. As we all know, being pregnant has a high percentage for a women to develop depression and anxiety, this may be due to some hormonal changes that every pregnant women suffers. It’s important to note that only a psychologist or a psychiatrist can diagnose if a pregnant women is suffering from depression due to certain criteria such as when the depressing feeling last more than two weeks, make it hard for the women to accomplish her activities during a normal day, and many other symptoms that affect directly the daily life of a pregnant women. However, most women are warned that being stressed can have serious consequences for the growth and development of their unborn children.

Stress is a common issue that all people of all different backgrounds experience, weather it is environmental, situational, or family related it can happen to anyone. However, stress in pregnant women can be a health hazard for both the mother and the unborn baby. The baby can be born premature, have many organ developmental issues, and the mother can suffer from many complications as well. The connection

When mothers experience stress, their babies also experience physiological effects. Babies exposed to high levels of prenatal stress are more likely to show heightened signs of stress in infancy, such as excessive crying, anger and fear than those infants with less prenatal stress exposure (Ruiz & Avant, 2005). These effects, if chronic, can cause irreversible damage to the development of the child’s

In a recent meta-analysis of 28 articles regarding depression during pregnancy, Gavin et al. found that up to 13% of women experience depressive episodes at some point during pregnancy or within the first year postpartum. The prenatal period is a very important time for the growth of the offspring, therefore a range of exposures can have long-term changes. Not only will it have immediate effects on the fetus, the impact of a woman’s mental state has been found to have lasting effects up to childhood and adolescence (Kinsella, 2013). The mental state of the mother causes a chain of hormones to be released if stressed. Once a mother is stressed, the fetus activities decrease and are less responsive to stimulants. Due to stress hormones, the fetuses have low birth weight and are at a higher risk of preterm delivery. Prenatal depression has been noted to be able to predict the likelihood of postpartum depression from hormones such as low dopamine. Depression during pregnancy negatively affects the development of offspring.

Information was gathered subjectively and objectively. Subjective data was collected through clinical interviews and the mothers’ self-reports. Objective data was collected through estimating cortisol the stress hormone from saliva samples. The information was gathered on two different days, the first day was during the mothers’ 26-28th gestational week and the second was during their 32-34th weeks.

The first article I’ve chosen in relation to my topic deals with researching whether exposure to prenatal maternal stress affects the path of a child’s development. The findings from the author’s previous research indicates the human fetuses are extremely sensitive to the physiological and psychological effects of maternal stress and that these influences can be measured (Sandman, Davis, Buss, & Glynn, 2012). The main objective of this particular study was to gather evidence on whether a fetuses’ exposure to prenatal stress can influence it’s development significantly and whether this can result in consequences that can last through childhood and possibly adulthood (Sandman et al., 2012). The assessment protocol involved collecting maternal

This problem is significant to nursing in a variety of ways. According to Zadeh et al. (2012), this type of study has never been conducted. Previous studies only investigated the prevalence of postpartum depression following normal pregnancy (Zadeh et al., 2012). Around one third of all pregnancies are classified as high-risk pregnancies. A high risk pregnancy consists of medical problems of mother before pregnancy, medical complications due to pregnancy, obstetrical complications and fetal problems (Zadeh et al., 2012). High prevalence of postpartum psychological problems and lack of specific studies to examine the relationship between postpartum psychological problems and high-risk pregnancies because it has never been studied (Zadeh et al., 2012).

Prenatal exposure to stress impairs biopsychosocial functioning of the infant with possible lifelong effects. During periods of maternal stress exposure, hormones pass through the placenta and fetal stress hormones mirror those hormones of the mother (Parke & Gauvain, 2009). These hormones can negatively impact the neurodevelopment of the fetus and lead to disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, and language delays (Talge, Neal & Glover, 2007). Exposure to stress hormones can also lead to difficult temperament and decreased stress responsiveness (Parke & Gauvain, 2009). Difficult babies often receive less contact from caregivers, and this lack of contact can hinder brain development in both emotional

The exposure of preconception stress is more difficult to quantify and measure as considerable variation exists in the measurement of stress. The US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study defines a stressful life event prior to conception that is used in many of the studies examining the effect on adverse obstetric outcomes. It is defined as one of the following occurrences: death of the respondent’s mother; death of the respondents father; death of previous live-born children; divorce; separation from partner; death of a spouse or; fertility problems. From a birth cohort in 2001, 19.7% of women reported having experienced one of the stressful life events listed above (Witt et al., 2014).

This research was designed to show the effects of maternal stress on the developing fetus during the first, second, and third trimester. The stressors could be anxiety, depression, or other environmental stressors that could exert psychological pressure on the mother, and the respond to these stressors is increase in cortisol levels which exert a variety of adverse effects on the developing fetus. The results of this study are slightly different from that of the previous research. The previous research has failed to show that children development, especially weight and bone development, are affected by maternal stress even after they are born. The researchers’ intention is to show that maternal stress is a factor that contributes to low birth weight and preterm birth. Therefore, it’s important that people understand the effect of stress on fetal development. The hypothesis is “maternal prenatal stress will have a negative effect on the offspring’s development, in part as a result of exposure of the fetus to high level of cortisol” (Amugongo & Hlusko, 2012, p.2).

More recent research has shown that stress and anxiety in the mother can also have significant repercussions on children's mental health. Specifically, it seems likely that maternal anxiety in the second half of pregnancy can lead to persistent changes in the child's stress-adaptive system - at the level of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis - changes that will make it more vulnerable and significantly increase the risk of suffering from behavioral, emotional, or hyperactivity disorders. This finding by itself confirms the need to prevent, diagnose and treat early anxiety disorders in pregnancy.

At one time or another, most people experience stress. The term stress has been used to describe a variety of negative feelings and reactions that accompany threatening or challenging situations. However, not all stress reactions are negative. A certain amount of stress is actually necessary for survival. For example, birth is one of the most stressful experiences of life. The high level of hormones released during birth, which are also involved in the stress response, are believed to prepare the newborn infant for adaptation to the challenges of life outside the womb. These biological responses to stress make the newborn more alert promoting the bonding process and, by extension, the child's physical survival.