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Maternal depression and foetal responses to novel stimuli: insights from a socio-economically disadvantaged Indian cohort

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2014

M. Fernandes ,
A. Stein ,
K. Srinivasan ,
G. Menezes ,
M. Renton ,
J. Zani  and
P. G. Ramchandani
M. Fernandes*
Affiliation:
Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Women’s Centre, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
A. Stein
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
K. Srinivasan
Affiliation:
St. John’s Research Institute, St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India
G. Menezes
Affiliation:
Snehalaya Socio-Medical Relief Centre, Snehalaya Hospital, Solur, Karnataka, India
M. Renton
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
J. Zani
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK
P. G. Ramchandani
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: M. Fernandes, Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, Level 3, Women’s Centre, The John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK. (Email michelle.fernandes@obs-gyn.ox.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Maternal stress during pregnancy has pervasive effects on stress responsivity in children. This study is the first to test the hypothesis that maternal prenatal depression, as observed in South India, may be associated with how foetuses respond to a potentially stressful stimulus. We employed measures of foetal heart rate at baseline, during exposure to a vibroacoustic stimulus, and post-stimulation, to study patterns of response and recovery in 133 third trimester foetuses of depressed and non-depressed mothers. We show that the association between maternal depression and foetal stress responsivity is U-shaped with foetuses of mothers with high and low depression scores demonstrating elevated responses, and poorer recovery, than foetuses of mothers with moderate levels. The right amount of intra-uterine stimulation is important in conditioning foetuses towards optimal regulation of their stress response. Our results imply that, in certain environmental contexts, exposure to moderate amounts of intra-uterine stress may facilitate this process.

Keywords

pregnancymaternal depressionstressfoetal programming
Type
Brief Report
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , June 2014 , pp. 178 - 182
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2014 

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