Maternal stress responses and anxiety during pregnancy: Effects on fetal heart rate

Monk, Catherine; Fifer, William P.; Myers, Michael; Sloan, Richard P.; Trien, Leslie; Hurtado, Alicia

doi:10.1002/(sici)1098-2302(200001)36:1<67::aid-dev7>3.0.co;2-c

Cited by 225 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Can the fetus perceive these changes? Fetuses of mothers with high maternal anxiety show significant HR increases during maternal cognitive stress compared to fetuses of mothers with low maternal anxiety who show non-significant HR modification under the same condition (Monk et al, 2000). However, it is not known whether this phenomenon is perceptual in origin or whether it emanates from a physiological process.…”

Section: Rhythm Perception In the Fetus And Newbornmentioning

confidence: 88%

Rhythm perception, production, and synchronization during the perinatal period

2014

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Sensori-motor synchronization (SMS) is the coordination of rhythmic movement with an external rhythm. It plays a central role in motor, cognitive, and social behavior. SMS is commonly studied in adults and in children from four years of age onward. Prior to this age, the ability has rarely been investigated due to a lack of available methods. The present paper reviews what is known about SMS in young children, infants, newborns, and fetuses. The review highlights fetal and infant perception of rhythm and cross modal perception of rhythm, fetal, and infant production of rhythm and cross modal production of rhythm, and the contexts in which production of rhythm can be observed in infants. A primary question is whether infants, even newborns, can modify their spontaneous rhythmical motor behavior in response to external rhythmical stimulation. Spontaneous sucking, crying, and leg movements have been studied in the presence or absence of rhythmical auditory stimulation. Findings suggest that the interaction between movement and sound is present at birth and that SMS can be observed in special conditions and within a narrow range of tempi, particularly near the infant’s own spontaneous motor tempo. The discussion centers on the fundamental role of SMS in interaction and communication at the beginning of life.

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Section: Rhythm Perception In the Fetus And Newbornmentioning

confidence: 88%

Rhythm perception, production, and synchronization during the perinatal period

2014

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“…These findings are in line with an animal model showing that in pregnant rats exposure to mild stress is associated with offspring having enhanced learning abilities (Fujioka et al, 2001). Previously, we reported maternal prenatal distress, including frank psychiatric symptoms of mood disorders, was associated with greater FHR reactivity when women underwent a laboratory stressor, and interpreted the findings using a risk-model as indicating a potential marker for future stress-based psychopathology (Monk et al, 2000, 2004, 2010). Possibly these results instead index accelerated development and more mature ANS control of the cardiac system.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Throughout gestation, fetal development may be shaped by these alterations in women's biology (e.g., auditory stimuli from the cardiovascular and gastrointestinal systems, somatosensory activation from changes in breathing rate, and thermodynamics) with heightened opportunities for conditioning enhancing neural development (Costigan et al, 2008; DiPietro et al, 2003, 2008; Monk et al, 2000, 2004; Novak, 2004). Higher maternal distress has been associated with advanced postnatal motor and cognitive development (DiPietro, 2004, 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first approach hypothesizes that atypical fetal outcomes indicate an increased risk of future psychopathology; in the latter, fetal development is accelerated to reduce exposure to a nonoptimal in utero experience and reduce maternal investment in an offspring with fewer chances for postnatal survival (Gluckman, 2005; Pike, 2005). Until recently (Sandman, Davis, & Glynn, 2012), the majority of fetal studies, including our own (Monk et al, 2000, 2004, 2010), have focused on the identification of an at-risk phenotype and that approach informed the hypotheses in this study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are, at best, only marginal associations between pregnant women's reports of their psychological experience and indicators of biological activation (Fink et al, 2010; Huizink, Robles de Medina, Mulder, Visser, & Buitelaar, 2003; Monk et al, 2000; Ponirakis, Susman, & Stifter, 1998; Rieger et al, 2004), which has limited the possibility of identifying a biological mediator of the maternal mood effects on the fetus. Instead, the biological and psychological variables frequently are found to be uncorrelated, or independently associated with offspring development (Baibazarova et al, 2013; Davis et al, 2007; Davis & Sandman, 2010; Harville et al, 2009; Huizink, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Pregnancy distress gets under fetal skin: Maternal ambulatory assessment & sex differences in prenatal development

Doyle

Werner

Feng

et al. 2015

Developmental Psychobiology

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Prenatal maternal distress is associated with an at-risk developmental profile, yet there is little fetal evidence of this putative in utero process. Moreover, the biological transmission for these maternal effects remains uncertain. In a study of n = 125 pregnant adolescents (ages 14–19), ambulatory assessments of daily negative mood (anger, frustration, irritation, stress), physical activity, blood pressure, heart rate (every 30 min over 24 hr), and salivary cortisol (six samples) were collected at 13–16, 24–27, 34–37 gestational weeks. Corticotropin-releasing hormone, C-reactive protein, and interleukin 6 from blood draws and 20 min assessments of fetal heart rate (FHR) and movement were acquired at the latter two sessions. On average, fetuses showed development in the expected direction (decrease in FHR, increase in SD of FHR and in the correlation of movement and FHR (“coupling”)). Maternal distress characteristics were associated with variations in the level and trajectory of fetal measures, and results often differed by sex. For males, greater maternal 1st and 2nd session negative mood and 2nd session physical activity were associated with lower overall FHR (p <.01), while 1st session cortisol was associated with a smaller increase in coupling (p <.01), and overall higher levels (p = .05)—findings suggesting accelerated development. For females, negative mood, cortisol, and diastolic blood pressure were associated with indications of relatively less advanced and accelerated outcomes. There were no associations between negative mood and biological variables. These data indicate that maternal psychobiological status influences fetal development, with females possibly more variously responsive to different exposures.

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