Mother's Mental State Crosses Placenta
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Fetal brains develop according to the environment they will enter based on the mental state of their mothers, shows a study on mothers and babies from the University of California-Irvine. Surprisingly, researchers found that babies thrived best when their mothers' mental state stayed consistent before and after birth. This was true even for depressed mothers. Changes in mental state, whether going from happy to sad or sad to happy, slowed the children's development. According to the researchers, the findings suggest that pregnant women should be screened and treated for depression. Between 10 and 20 percent of women will experience depression during pregnancy and up to 20 percent will become depressed after birth. Read More: Sensing Mom's Psychological State From Within The Womb SHARE:
Posted In: Child Adolescent Mental Health | Emotions | Parenting | Tags: Babies | Depression | Mothers | Pregnancy | Fetal Development | Posted by FindCounseling.com Staff on November 17, 2011 at 12:51 PM | Permalink |
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