The psychological state of the mother affects the development of the fetus
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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In the process of fetal development, the fetus constantly receives various messages from the mother. In addition to hearing the mother's heartbeat or music when attached to the belly of the player's headphones, the fruit also receives chemical signals through the placenta. A new study, published in the journal of the Association of Psychological Sciences Psychological Science, showed that the fetus can receive signals about the mental state of the mother. Depressive states of the future mother can affect the development of the child after his birth.
In recent decades, scientists have discovered that the state of the environment and its impact on the growing fetus in the womb are very important components for the normal development of the unborn child. Some factors are obvious. Smoking and alcohol use, for example, have a very negative effect on the fetus. Other studies have shown that children who were born during the Dutch famine of 1944 are now obese and have diabetes.
Scientists from the University of California at Irvine tried to study how the mother's psychological state affects the developing fetus. For this study, they invited pregnant women and conducted the necessary tests to determine depressive conditions before and after childbirth. Scientists also tested children after they were born to analyze the pace of physical and neuropsychiatric development.
As a result, the researchers found something interesting: it turned out that children born to mothers who did not have depression before and after childbirth were absolutely healthy. Children born to mothers who were depressed during pregnancy were also depressed after birth, and were prone to delaying neuropsychiatric development.
In the long term, the presence of a depressed mental state of the mother can lead to neurological problems and psychiatric disorders in children. In another study, the researchers found that older children whose mothers were depressed during pregnancy had differences in certain brain structures.
Scientists believe that the human fetus is an active participant in its own development and collects information for life after birth. And his preparation for the future life through the receipt and preservation of signals from the mother begins during the intrauterine period of development.