Stressed pregnant women are more likely to have clumsy kids, reveals report

Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, said, “Even though it is not clear whether or how the results of the tests conducted in the study may translate into real-life impacts for the participants, it is believed to be related with the development of the cerebellar cortex”.

A new study claims mothers-to-be who feel stressed in the latter stages of pregnancy may produce less co-ordinated offspring. The moms completed the same questionnaire when they were 34 weeks pregnant.

Interestingly, the researchers found that stressful events experienced by the mothers in later pregnancy appeared to have more influence on the child’s motor development scores, compared with those whose mothers experienced the stress earlier.

“It’s not like if you had a stressful pregnancy, you’re guaranteed to have a child with motor development problems.it’s just that they were lower on the motor development scale”, she said.

Nearly 3000 mothers were asked to record stressful incidents in their pregnancies at 18 and 34 weeks. The tests aimed to measure hand strength, ability to touch a finger to their nose and then back to the index finger, distance jump, heel-toe walking along a line and standing on one foot. This research suggested the stress hormone cortisol may be causing the problems. The study concluded that the children of mothers who experienced fewer than three stressful events scored higher on the tests at all three time points than the children born to mothers who experienced three or more stressful events during their pregnancy. The researchers say this suggests an “accumulative effect of stress on the developing fetal motor system.” .

The brand new research was printed immediately (Oct. 14) within the journal Youngster Improvement.

Additionally, it turned out that undergoing these stressful events later pregnancy had a more serious effect on the children’s coordination.

“Pregnant women who are under stress could be counseled about cost-effective stress-reduction techniques such as gentle exercise”, says coauthor Tegan Grace, PhD.

The report warned low motor development has been linked to poorer short and long-term mental and physical health outcomes and children with low motor competence can have difficulty with everyday tasks, like writing, throwing and running. However with proper intervention, this can often be improved.