Recently obtained statistics suggest that the fetal brain development in babies born during the Covid 19 pandemic is significantly less than in those born before the pandemic. According to researchers, this change has taken place mainly due to the higher stress levels in women who have become pregnant and given birth during the frightful time of the pandemic.
Effects of Maternal Stress on Fetal Brain Development
It was already widely accepted that a higher stress level in expecting mothers can impair fetal brain development. A study published just before the world got hit by the pandemic, (in January 2020 to be more precise) revealed that moms with severe mental stress are more likely to give birth to babies with abnormally developed brains.
The paper was published in the popular journal JAMA Pediatrics and was written based on the findings of a study carried out at the Children’s National Hospital. The researchers carrying out the study suggested that it should be mandatory for every pregnant woman to undergo screening for mental distress. According to them, if the test results show that the pregnant woman in question is distressed, she should get the required support to prevent impaired brain development in the unborn child.
Effects of Covid-related Maternal Stress on the Unborn Baby’s Brain
For being affected by covid-related mental trauma it is not mandatory to be infected by the deadly coronavirus. You can become a victim of extreme depression and stress during the pandemic even if you have never got the infection. The statement is even truer for expecting moms who not only need to care about their health but also have to protect their unborn children. The findings of a study published in the journal Communications Medicine have successfully established the link between maternal covid and impaired fetal development.
The said study followed over 200 expecting mothers and was conducted under the supervision of experts at the Children’s National Hospital. At the end of the study, the researchers emphasized that more scientific studies must be carried out to find detailed information on the long-term neurodevelopmental impact of their discoveries as well as that of the Covid 19 infection on the brain development of unborn babies.
Catherine Limperopoulos, the director and chief of the hospital’s Developing Brain Institute, stated that it is extremely important to have in-depth knowledge about the impact of contemporary stressors on the brain development of the unborn child. According to her, having such information is crucial for the advancement of basic science as well as for taking the right public policy initiatives as far as spreading information is concerned. Limperopoulos, a Ph.D. is one of the senior authors of the study.
She further added that the study published in Communications Medicine has successfully established that a problem does exist, and the problem is taking place prenatally. According to her, this model can be used for exploring ways of reducing stress in pregnant women and providing the required support to unborn babies.
These latest findings of Limperopoulos and her team require further confirmation (which includes ruling out all other possibilities like maternal nutrition, genetic factors, and financial security) to allow experts to understand how environmental exposures can affect an unborn baby.
It has been close to a couple of years since we first came to know about the deadly Covid 19 infection. Researchers around the globe have invested all their time to study various aspects of the infection including its effects on the human race. However, it can be said that the pandemic’s psychosocial impact is still one of its least studied aspects. This shouldn’t be the case as any abnormality in fetal brain development can result in serious psycho-behavioral issues in the child. Examples of disorders that can occur due to impaired brain development of the unborn child include anxiety disorder, mood disorder, bipolar disorder, etc.
Results of MRI Imaging
The study was conducted on 202 patients living in the metropolitan area of Washington DC. Out of them, 137 belonged to the pre-pandemic unit and the remaining 65 belonged to the pandemic unit. The researchers used advanced MRI techniques and high-resolution 3D models of the fetal brains to detect issues like delayed gyrification and decrease in white matter, cerebellar and hippocampal volumes in unborn babies of the pandemic era. The scores of the two units were also compared based on factors like anxiety, stress, and depression.
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