Effects on pregnant women and developing babies as a result of pandemic

If natural disasters in the past have taught us anything about their impact on pregnant women and developing babies, careful attention must be paid, as their weight will certainly have an impact in addition to them.

Amanda Venta, a professor of psychology at the University of Houston, is sounding that warning as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic in a new study published in Child Psychology & Human Development.

“There is strong evidence to suggest that communicable coronavirus infection affects mothers and babies through immune pathways that have been shown, in previous research, to link stress and social isolation in the child. pre- and postnatal periods with deficits in maternal mental health and the well-being and development of babies across developmental stages, ”Venta reports.

Clear research into the link between the mind and body and maternal stress has a detrimental effect on both mothers and babies.

A pregnant mother’s immune system translates to her baby, so when she releases inflammatory cytokines, which may be in response to stress, those get to both babies. before birth and through breast milk. When we see elevated inflammatory cytokines in children, we know that there is an increased risk for later developmental complications. “

Amanda Venta, Associate Professor, Psychology, University of Houston

One of the studies Venta used in her summary was “Project Ice Storm,” which examined effects in utero exposure to varying degrees of prenatal maternal stress due to the Quebec ice storm in in 1998, which left millions without electricity for up to 40 days. Follow-up with children up to the age of 19 showed significant effects on temperance, behavior, motor development, physical development, IQ, attention and language development.

And while there is still no conventional data linking maternal weight during COVID-19 pandemics to infant outcomes, now is the time to take stock, according to Venta.

“We know that when moms are socially isolated it increases stress. We need to do something from a research perspective, and we need to do things in a different way clinically. When moms get support from the their partner, family and friends, or even their doctor, those types of social relationships can reduce inflammation, “said Venta, speaking from the trenches. She is five months pregnant and her Ob / Gyn has not yet asked if she is lonely, stressed, or receiving support – issues that are currently far beyond the status of antenatal care.

The report concludes that there is an immediate need for research into the psychological and biological failures of stress and social isolation of mothers and babies and suggests specific areas for future research:

• Evaluate maternal mental health and developmental outcomes during COVID-19 and beyond
• Examine stability and risk mechanisms
• Pilot interventions for immediate use

“We need to act quickly to understand the risk of long-term conflict to these families and, in relation to them, identify protective factors that can be reduced to a catastrophic disaster. birth group to mitigate this, ”Venta said.