Follow for more talkers

Study: Pregnant moms who do this end up having kids who are less stressed

Babies whose moms were able to do mindfulness programs had healthier stress responses at six months old than moms who did not.

Avatar photo

Published

on
Peaceful young positive pregnant woman in gymnastic suit does yoga and meditate sitting on mat on green grass on sunny warm summer day. Concept of preparation for childbirth and positive attitude
(Desizned via Shutterstock)

By Joe Morgan via SWNS

Pregnant moms who practice mindfulness end up having kids who are less stressed, a study has revealed.

Babies whose moms were able to do mindfulness programs had healthier stress responses at six months old than moms who did not.

They were also able to self-soothe at a far quicker rate which enables them to being able to sleep more at night.

Researchers say it is possible these babies will have better health outcomes in life thanks to the ability to "bounce back" from stress.

The study involved 135 mother-infant duos who were experiencing high stress in their lives.

Half the mothers underwent an eight-week mindfulness-based program which also showed to reduce stress and depression.

The babies in the treatment group had a faster return to a normal heart rate after a stressful interaction.

Researchers collected measurements of infants' autonomic nervous system activity when they were ignored by their mothers for two minutes.

The treatment-group babies engaged in more self-soothing behavior, such as sucking their thumbs and looking at their hands.

Dr. Amanda Noroña-Zhou, at the University of California, San Francisco, said: “It is really well established that maternal stress in pregnancy increases the risk for health problems in the children.

“But we haven’t had a good understanding of how this process unfolds and of the biological mechanisms underlying it, or whether we can buffer the effects of stress on negative health outcomes.”

Senior author Dr. Nicki Bush, also of UCSF, said: "There has been so little research on what we can do in the positive lane; it’s been mostly about showing the negative effects of prenatal stress.

"This is the next frontier—interventions for moms that have positive effects on both mom and baby.

“A strong reaction and quick recovery are healthy, because we want our bodies to be ready for action when something is wrong, then go back to normal easily.

“The babies whose mothers did not receive the intervention had a more delayed response.

"They didn’t respond strongly until the threat had passed, and then they didn’t calm down easily after the threat was over.”

She added: “We hope this kind of data can embolden policymakers and advocates to say, hey, this was an inexpensive, group-based intervention that reduced mothers’ depression and stress, and may improve babies’ long-term wellbeing at the same time.

“Pregnancy is an incredible window of opportunity for both mothers and babies.

"We could, as a society, save a lot of money while doing the right thing for the next generation.”

The study was published in Psychosomatic Medicine.

Stories and infographics by ‘Talker Research’ are available to download & ready to use. Stories and videos by ‘Talker News’ are managed by SWNS. To license content for editorial or commercial use and to see the full scope of SWNS content, please email [email protected] or submit an inquiry via our contact form.

Top Talkers