In this study, Canadian researchers analyzed prenatal and postnatal stress and depression in mothers and infant activity outcomes at two months of birth during this pandemic. through an online-only survey. Eligible participants are 18 to 55 years old and single or multiple pregnant women who can read and write in English, with an internet connection at any stage of their pregnancy.
Approximately 1,185 eligible pregnant women residing in the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, India, the United States (USA) and several other countries of Europe, Asia and South America were registered to participate. study from May 2020 to March 2021. All subjects are required to provide a written informed consent form online prior to enrollment.
The online questionnaire was collected by Qualtrics under two timestamps: (a) at any time during pregnancy and (b) within two months of giving birth. In the first phase, data on subjects’ age, sex, country of residence, occupation, education level, and mental and physical health were collected using a survey sample. Second, data were obtained from questionnaires on maternal mental health after childbirth and on infant weight, gestational age, and motor development.
Participants self-reported levels of stress and depression and mothers reported good and bad motor performance in their infants.
The results showed that out of 1,185 eligible subjects, 117 completed the online prospective survey questionnaire at both time points. The results indicated that perceived levels of depression and stress were lower in the postpartum period than in the prenatal period.
Furthermore, normal birth weight and term infants born to mothers with increased depressive symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum are also associated with impaired motor function. These observations suggest that a combination of factors at birth, such as preterm birth and low birth weight, and maternal perinatal depression may be associated with a higher risk of developmental abnormalities in the newborn. than.
This is the first study to examine the impact of maternal mental health on infant motor development during a pandemic. These study results suggest that while maternal prenatal and postnatal depression predicts infant motor outcomes during the first two months of life, stress is observed in mothers during the first two months of life. and post-pregnancy do not predict infant mobility during this period. Low birth weight and premature infants of mothers with high depressive symptoms during and after pregnancy are likely to be at increased risk for poor motor outcomes.
The correlation of maternal perinatal depression with the poor motor development of the infant demonstrated in this study is consistent with previous reports. As the impact of poor maternal-infant depression on poor motor development was not evaluated in the present study, this needs to be explored in future research.
Although previous studies have reported a negative effect of maternal stress in the perinatal period on infant motor outcomes, the present study did not find this correlation. This observation may be because trimester was not an important covariate in the current study, and thus it may not capture the high levels of pregnancy-related stress in later stages. of pregnancy is associated with worse motor outcomes in infants.
Furthermore, the current study only studied infants aged 0 to 2 months, which may be too early to detect the impact of maternal stress on infant motor development. Therefore, further investigations are needed to evaluate research on the perception of perinatal stress on infant motor outcomes in the longer term.
Source: Medindia
