Relationship Between Prenatal Maternal Distress and the Quality of General Movements at 3 Months

Depression and anxiety symptoms are common during pregnancy which may disturb the intrauterine environment by affecting the mother's physiological responses to stress, and ultimately impair fetal and postnatal development. There is increasing evidence about the effects of maternal distress on young brain tissue leading to some structural changes. The neurological footprints of these structural changes on the young brain may be caught early in life by a video assessment of General Movements (GMs) quality.

Mothers Inclusion Criteria:Mothers aged 18 to 40 years,Singleton pregnancyNo smoking during prengnancyNo illicit drug or alcohol use during pregnancy,No major health conditions requiring invasive treatments (e.g., dialysis, blood transfusions, chemotherapy),No diagnosis of psychotic illnesses (eg, schizophrenia,bipolar or borderline personality disorder), andNo major autoimmune diseasesNo pregnancy-related complications: (including prenatal infection, pregnancy-included hypertension, gestational diabetes, oligohydramnios, polyhydramnios, preterm labor, vaginal bleeding, placenta previa, or anemia).Infant inclusionary criteria:infants were born at 36-42 wk of gestationuncomplicated singleton birth,no pre-existing neurologic conditions or major head trauma, neonatal intensive care unit stay limited to observation only (ie, no interventions), andinfant discharged from the hospital with the mother.Mothers Exclusion Criteria:post partum depression and/or anxietydelivery complicationInfant exclusion criteri:infant birth before 36 weeks gestationinfant weight lower 2500gr at birthApgar score 0f <7 at 5 minutesMajor neonatal complicationsIdentified neurologic, genetic or congenital syndrome