Mom’s Stress While Pregnant May Explain Why You’re a Klutz

And those children who scored lowest were those whose mothers had three or more stressful moments during their pregnancy. Financial problems, divorce, separation from beloved one and death of friend or family member, were considered as stressful events in the study.

The researchers also found that stressful events that happened later in pregnancy seemed to be linked to a greater effect on child coordination.

The study was done on nearly 3,000 mothers, with the researchers asking them to record stressful incidents in their 18th until their 34th weeks.

When the children born of those pregnancies were 10, 14, and 17 years old, they were assessed on their overall motor development and coordination using a 10-item movement test. The test measured children’s hand strength as well as their ability to touch a finger to one’s nose and then back to the index finger, distance jump, walk along a line heel to toe, and stand on one foot. Stress during pregnancy was found to affect the motor skills as their child grows up to become an adult.

New findings by researchers in Australia suggest that the children born to women who experience stressful events during pregnancy might be less coordinated in their body movements as teenagers.

A new study claims mothers-to-be who feel stressed in the latter stages of pregnancy may produce less co-ordinated offspring.

To further investigate this topic, the researchers conducted a longitudinal study that followed around 2,900 Australian mothers who were primarily white.

However, the researchers were unsure whether the problems highlighted, such as the ability to stand on one foot, would have any significant impact on the lives of the affected children.

The findings are detailed in the journal Child Development.

It also noted that the biggest differences in motor development outcomes were between those whose mothers had experienced no stress and those whose mothers had been very stressed.

She and her colleagues add that because low motor development has been linked to worse mental and physical outcomes, it is important to investigate early risk factors to facilitate early intervention.

“(This study shows) the importance of mothers’ emotional and mental health on a wide range of developmental and health outcomes”, says Beth Hands, a co-author on the study and a professor of human movement at the university.

Although children with low motor ability can have difficulty writing, throwing and running, the researchers add that this can be improved in many cases with intervention and support.