Mom's stress level can harm baby's brain

Visitors to the Royal Society Science Exhibition here can see how their stress levels affect the heart of an unborn baby and why it is essential for pregnant women to reduce anxiety. Researchers behind the exhibit, from Imperial College London, hope that it will raise awareness of the importance of reducing levels of stress and anxiety in expectant mothers. Reducing stress during pregnancy can help prevent thousands of children from developing emotional and behavioural problems, they said. Visitors will have the chance to play a game that shows how a mother’s stress can increase the heart rate of her unborn baby. They will also be able to touch a real placenta, encased safely in plastic. The placenta is crucial for foetal development as it usually from the stress hormone cortisol. However, when the mother is stressed, the placents become less protective and the mother’s cortisol may have an effect on the foetus. Imperial researchers work has shown that maternal stress and anxiety can alter the development of the baby’s brain.