Can Extreme Stress Cause Birth Defects?
Sept. 8, 2000 -- Sudden, extremely stressful events that happen in the first few weeks of pregnancy, like losing an older child, may put some women at risk for having a baby with birth defects. But for a pregnant woman going through a traumatic time, there are also ways to cope with the situation that could help.
When traumatic or emotional situations occur, levels of the body's stress hormones increase. High levels of one stress hormone in particular, cortisone, has previously been linked to birth defects in animals.
Researchers from Denmark report in the Sept. 9 issue of The Lancet that women who experience severe emotional stress in the first trimester of pregnancy, such as the death of a child, are more likely than women who do not experience that type of stress to have a baby with defects of a particular type, mainly heart defects or cleft lip, cleft palate, or both. Those exposed to the unexpected death of a child were more likely to deliver babies with birth defects involving other organs as well.
The authors say the findings suggest that severe stress can directly affect tissues and organs at a crucial time in a baby's development. It is in the first three months of pregnancy that the baby's organs are forming.
Suzan Carmichael, PhD, a researcher with the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program, stresses, though, that the study is "very preliminary." She says the study confirms previous research and should be of help to others who are trying to show how response to stress results in actual changes in the body's levels of substances that may ultimately be harmful to a developing baby.
She also points out that other factors related to how the mother deals with a stressful situation could be involved in increasing risk of birth defects. For example, a mother who copes with an overwhelmingly stressful situation by eating poorly, smoking cigarettes, or drinking alcohol can significantly increase the risk to her child.
Study author Dorthe Hansen and colleagues examined medical records of over 3,300 women who reported severe stress while pregnant or just prior to pregnancy and nearly 20,000 women who reported no stress during or prior to pregnancy.
When traumatic or emotional situations occur, levels of the body's stress hormones increase. High levels of one stress hormone in particular, cortisone, has previously been linked to birth defects in animals.
Researchers from Denmark report in the Sept. 9 issue of The Lancet that women who experience severe emotional stress in the first trimester of pregnancy, such as the death of a child, are more likely than women who do not experience that type of stress to have a baby with defects of a particular type, mainly heart defects or cleft lip, cleft palate, or both. Those exposed to the unexpected death of a child were more likely to deliver babies with birth defects involving other organs as well.
The authors say the findings suggest that severe stress can directly affect tissues and organs at a crucial time in a baby's development. It is in the first three months of pregnancy that the baby's organs are forming.
Suzan Carmichael, PhD, a researcher with the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program, stresses, though, that the study is "very preliminary." She says the study confirms previous research and should be of help to others who are trying to show how response to stress results in actual changes in the body's levels of substances that may ultimately be harmful to a developing baby.
She also points out that other factors related to how the mother deals with a stressful situation could be involved in increasing risk of birth defects. For example, a mother who copes with an overwhelmingly stressful situation by eating poorly, smoking cigarettes, or drinking alcohol can significantly increase the risk to her child.
Study author Dorthe Hansen and colleagues examined medical records of over 3,300 women who reported severe stress while pregnant or just prior to pregnancy and nearly 20,000 women who reported no stress during or prior to pregnancy.
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