Although there are many factors that affect the development of the fetus, research on the specific effects of prenatal maternal stress and the resulting negative outcomes for the development of the fetus will be reviewed. While there is knowledge of these harmful effects in scientific and medical communities, researchers are still in the midst of discovering the results of these negative effects on human development. An overall review of the literature suggests that this topic is still relatively new in research as most of the articles make note that despite the amount of current research studies, there are still many unanswered questions. Each second of fetal development during pregnancy is of extreme importance. This period of prenatal development is a time of change and growth with many factors affecting all areas of growth. Different stimuli having long-lasting effects on development is a process known as programming. The goal of this first article, (put the name of the article here) is to look into the idea of programming and how the influence of stress effects prenatal development. It begins with a biological approach. Looking at the role of Glucocorticoids cortisol in fetal development, the article states that they play a critical role in development and are associated with the “hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, one of the body’s major stress responsive systems.” (Davis & Sandman, 2010) This cortisol increases in mothers over the course of pregnancy and is important in brain development in the fetus. While these Glucocorticoids are important and essential to prenatal development, overexposure can lead to negative effects, including emotional disturbances in early childhood, deregulated stress responses in infa... ... middle of paper ... ...ing that there is still much to discover on how exactly maternal stress affects the fetus in prenatal development. Works Cited Davis, E. P., & Sandman, C. A. (2010). The timing of prenatal exposure to maternal cortisol and psychosocial stress is associated with human infant cognitive development. Child Development, 81(1), 131-148. Markham, J. A., & Koenig, J. I. (2011). Prenatal stress: Role in psychotic and depressive diseases. Psychopharmacology, 214(1), 89-106. Lange, A. (2011). Prenatal maternal stress and the developing fetus and infant: A review of animal models as related to human research. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 10, 326-340. Talge, N. M., Neal, C., & Glover, V. (2007). Antenatal maternal stress and long-term effects on child neurodevelopment: how and why?. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 48(3/4), 245-261.
...tant developmental component in prenatal life because they provide a foundation for later learning and behavior.
When babies are calmed by being comforted or fed, the brain’s stress-response systems are turned off. Babies’ brains begin to create the network of cells that help them learn to self-regulate.
Psychological development is the development of a person’s emotional, intellectual, cognitive, and social capabilities and functions that they acquire throughout their lifetime. This starts from birth and carries on until death, but how does pregnancy affect the development stage? There are many myths that when women become pregnant their cognitive capabilities begin to decrease and the mother suffers from ‘baby brain’ or ‘placenta brain’. Scientists are interested in this and some wondered what role pregnancy plays in the increase or decrease of a woman’s cognitive function.
Fetal exposure to prenatal stress is capable of reprograming the HPA axis to have an increased responsiveness to glucocorticoids later in life as well as inhibit the secretion of glucocorticoids due to stress (Koenig, Kirkpatrick and Lee, 2002).
...Perinatal Stress Reduction. Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health, 12(1), 19-29. Retrieved January 25, 2012, from http://dreamhawk.com/pregnancy-childbirth/music-and-perinatal-stress-reduction/
There are many factors that affect development. Some of those are factor, which have a direct bearing on prenatal life, later on manifest postnatal. The human body is a highly organized system with trillion of cells communicating with each other to ensure proper functioning. However those functions, can be enhance or impaired by endogenous or exogenous agent, which act in concert to produce effects during prenatal life. These effects might have consequences on emotional and cognitive development of a child postnatal. Deena Palenchar (2005) stated that there are environmental agents, which can adversely affect the prenatal development. These agents are known as teratogen. When exposed to these environmental agents, genetic materials interact with them producing effects that can have direct bearing o the rearing of the child. On the other hand, there is stress. Stress is a normal occurrence in everyone’s life, and it management depends on each individual (Sleigh, 2005). Just like teratogen, stress can affect the fetus development with mild or serious consequences during childhood and adulthood. Both teratogen in this case smoking and stress can adversely affect the fetus by producing Nicotinic Acetylcholine receptors and cortisol respectively, which have a great impact on the prenatal and postnatal development.
Lam, Garrett. "Pregnancy." Child Development. Ed. Neil J. Salkind. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2002. 317-322. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Nov. 2013.
In addition, prenatal representations predict observed maternal parenting at age 1 (Dayton, Levendosky, Davidson, & Bogat, 2010). Mullender et al. (2002), in a mixed methods study found; "Women describe how being hyper vigilant, 'constantly on guard', as well as the violence led to exhaustion and therefore less energy for the children" (p. 160) The complexity of mothering in domestic violence was exemplified in a study by Levendosky et al. (2000) which used semi-structured interviews. In this study, when women were asked to describe their experiences, the majority of women thought their mothering was affected both positively and negatively by domestic violence.We can see that many studies conclude on the same result , the mother-child relationship is affected by
Infancy by all standards is when the individual is most vulnerable physically. Infants are totally dependent for every need to be fulfilled by another. It is during this time that attachment begins to form and learning from others and the environment begins. As with every stage of development, risks factors exist and need to be acknowledged, by doing this, possible interventions can be put in place or social programs offered to address how to minimize these factors to give the individual the best opportunity to thrive. The risk factors to this stage of development are poverty, child abuse and inadequate caregiving.
There are numerous obstacles which may impede healthy attachment from developing during infancy. Healthy attachment during infancy occurs when an emotional bond is formed between parent and child. “It begins before birth solidifies by age 1, and influences relationships throughout life” (Berger, 2011). Chapter five discusses the topic Necessary and Possible Experiences as it relates to brain development which is essential for healthy attachment in infants. Therefore, in order for proper development to materialize it is necessary that the infant is exposed to the basic expected experience which allows for normal brain maturation.
There are many women that do not know they are pregnant when prenatal developments have begun to take place. Understanding prenatal development and the birthing process are vital to a healthy pregnancy and delivery. Prenatal development is complex and although the expectant mother may follow the guidelines or orders given by her doctor, complications may
Stress is a condition that almost everyone must deal with at various times in life. Unfortunately, dealing with stress can cause negative health consequences in many people. Numerous studies have been conducted that support the idea that stress can take a toll on a person’s mental and physical well-being. So, that is why doctors and mental health practitioners advise that individuals find ways to cope with, and if possible, reduce the stress that is in their lives. And now, according to a video produced by Discovery News, How Your Mom’s Stress is Now Your Stress, research has been conducted that found that stress in a pregnant mother can be passed down to her unborn child (Discovery News, 2014).
Stein, A., Pearson, R. M., Goodman, S. H., Rapa, E., Rahman, A., McCallum, M., & Pariante, C. M. (2014). Effects of perinatal mental disorders on the fetus and child. The Lancet, 384 (9956), 1800-1819. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/science/article/pii/S0140673614612770?via%3Dihub.
In the developing stages of a child, psychological factors play a huge role in th...
Huizink, A. C., Robles de Medina, P. G., Mulder, E. J., Visser, G. H., & Buitelaar, J. K. (2003). Stress during pregnancy is associated with developmental outcome in infancy. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 44(6), 810-818.