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Maternal depression and foetal responses to novel stimuli: Insights from a socio-economically disadvantaged Indian cohort

Maternal depression and foetal responses to novel stimuli: Insights from a socio-economically disadvantaged Indian cohort
Maternal depression and foetal responses to novel stimuli: Insights from a socio-economically disadvantaged Indian cohort
Maternal stress during pregnancy has pervasive effects on stress responsivity in children. This study is the first to test the hypothesis that maternal prenatal depression, as observed in South India, may be associated with how foetuses respond to a potentially stressful stimulus. We employed measures of foetal heart rate at baseline, during exposure to a vibroacoustic stimulus, and post-stimulation, to study patterns of response and recovery in 133 third trimester foetuses of depressed and non-depressed mothers. We show that the association between maternal depression and foetal stress responsivity is U-shaped with foetuses of mothers with high and low depression scores demonstrating elevated responses, and poorer recovery, than foetuses of mothers with moderate levels. The right amount of intra-uterine stimulation is important in conditioning foetuses towards optimal regulation of their stress response. Our results imply that, in certain environmental contexts, exposure to moderate amounts of intra-uterine stress may facilitate this process.
2040-1744
Fernandes, M.
16d62e60-ae8e-455f-88d3-88e778253b4a
Stein, A.
f6a13a48-78d3-471e-97d1-92e39bc109d3
Srinivasan, K.
a5367aa3-c40e-4c3c-825e-2d150a3e40c5
Menezes, G.
51dc105c-e3a8-44d9-84fc-925e5e7d3115
Renton, M.
5ed802e2-32cc-4177-ad74-05164ee67bba
Zani, J.
2591de92-62f2-4ff1-8e94-58e812fe7446
Ramchandani, P.G.
1fdd24f9-f9ab-402d-952a-043d92f579a1
Fernandes, M.
16d62e60-ae8e-455f-88d3-88e778253b4a
Stein, A.
f6a13a48-78d3-471e-97d1-92e39bc109d3
Srinivasan, K.
a5367aa3-c40e-4c3c-825e-2d150a3e40c5
Menezes, G.
51dc105c-e3a8-44d9-84fc-925e5e7d3115
Renton, M.
5ed802e2-32cc-4177-ad74-05164ee67bba
Zani, J.
2591de92-62f2-4ff1-8e94-58e812fe7446
Ramchandani, P.G.
1fdd24f9-f9ab-402d-952a-043d92f579a1

Fernandes, M., Stein, A., Srinivasan, K., Menezes, G., Renton, M., Zani, J. and Ramchandani, P.G. (2014) Maternal depression and foetal responses to novel stimuli: Insights from a socio-economically disadvantaged Indian cohort. Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 5 (3). (doi:10.1017/S2040174414000129).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Maternal stress during pregnancy has pervasive effects on stress responsivity in children. This study is the first to test the hypothesis that maternal prenatal depression, as observed in South India, may be associated with how foetuses respond to a potentially stressful stimulus. We employed measures of foetal heart rate at baseline, during exposure to a vibroacoustic stimulus, and post-stimulation, to study patterns of response and recovery in 133 third trimester foetuses of depressed and non-depressed mothers. We show that the association between maternal depression and foetal stress responsivity is U-shaped with foetuses of mothers with high and low depression scores demonstrating elevated responses, and poorer recovery, than foetuses of mothers with moderate levels. The right amount of intra-uterine stimulation is important in conditioning foetuses towards optimal regulation of their stress response. Our results imply that, in certain environmental contexts, exposure to moderate amounts of intra-uterine stress may facilitate this process.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 11 March 2014
Published date: 1 June 2014
Additional Information: © Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2014

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 467991
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/467991
ISSN: 2040-1744
PURE UUID: acbc2f32-807c-46a0-b2d0-22f35ec7f173
ORCID for M. Fernandes: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-0051-3389

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Date deposited: 27 Jul 2022 16:56
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:10

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Contributors

Author: M. Fernandes ORCID iD
Author: A. Stein
Author: K. Srinivasan
Author: G. Menezes
Author: M. Renton
Author: J. Zani
Author: P.G. Ramchandani

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