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The psychological state of the mother affects the development of the fetus
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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During fetal development, the fetus constantly receives messages from the mother. In addition to being able to hear the mother’s heartbeat or music when headphones are placed on the belly, the fetus also receives chemical signals through the placenta. A new study published in the journal Psychological Science by the Association for Psychological Science has shown that the fetus can receive signals about the mother’s mental state. Depressive states of the expectant mother can affect the development of the child after birth.
In recent decades, scientists have discovered that the environment and its impact on the growing fetus in the womb are very important components for the normal development of the future child. Some factors are obvious. Smoking and drinking alcohol, for example, have a very negative effect on the fetus. Other studies have shown that children born during the Dutch famine of 1944 today suffer from obesity and diabetes.
Scientists from the University of California, 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 states before and after childbirth. Scientists also conducted tests on children after they were born to analyze the pace of physical and psychoneurological development.
What the researchers found was something interesting: It turned out that children born to mothers who were not depressed before or after birth were completely healthy. Children born to mothers who were depressed during pregnancy were also depressed after birth and were prone to delayed neuropsychiatric development.
In the long term, having a depressed mother can lead to neurological problems and psychiatric disorders in children. In another study, researchers found that older children whose mothers were depressed during pregnancy had differences in certain brain structures.
Scientists believe that the human embryo is an active participant in its own development and collects information for life after birth. And its preparation for future life by receiving and storing signals from the mother begins during the intrauterine period of development.