14 DAY TRIAL // A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Miami School of Medicine found that mothers-to-be who are stressed out are very likely to give birth to smaller than normal babies. Writing in the Psychosomatic Medicine Journal, the team found that the low, abnormal weight of new-born babies from depressed, anxious or stressed out mothers is primarily influenced by cortisol levels. Stress and other emotional disorders are transmitted through the cortisol from the mother to the unborn baby.
The study was conducted by the University of Miami scientists on almost 100 pregnant women who had been carrying a child for 16 to 29 weeks. The participants in the study had to fill in questionnaires in which to report their emotional states and to report the levels of stress, depression, disorder, distress they have to cope with everyday since being pregnant. Besides this, women were taken urine samples so that the team can measure levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine. They also had their fetuses measured through ultrasounds.
Results of the study showed that cortisol may be the main mechanism through which stress and other emotional imbalances felt by the mothers are transmitted to the children in their womb. Therefore, the unborn baby can sense the stress and anxiety of his mother and reacts by getting underweight and smaller than normal.
This is why scientists who carried out the study advise all future mothers to be very careful about their emotional balance during the 9 month pregnancy period. They should be calmer and avoid working when there are only a few months left until the delivery period arrives. Jobs are known to be one of the leading causes for stress.
Study author Miguel A. Diego pointed out: "One of the things this research highlights is that if you are pregnant and under extreme amounts of stress or feeling depressed, you should talk with your doctor about ways of treating these conditions during pregnancy."