BACKGROUND: In recent years, attention has been turned to maternal mental health in relation to the mother-child relationship accompanying a widening in focus, i.e. taking into account not only the puerperium, but also the stage of pregnancy. This applies to studies that have revealed a connection between depression and maternal ...

Dystonia is a highly frequent movement disorder, the pathogenesis of which remains unclear. The cloning of TorsinA, the gene responsible for early-onset dystonia, was a major breakthrough. However, the function of this protein remains unclear. By sequence homology, TorsinA belongs to the ATPases associated with diverse cellular activities-family, many of ...

There is a growing interest in the use of granulocytic surface markers for the diagnosis of some inherited and acquired disorders, such as Shwachman-Diamond syndrome and myelodysplastic syndromes. Understanding the impact of physiologic factors, such as age, gender, pregnancy, race, and stress on granulocytic surface markers is essential for appropriate ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare multigravid women with and without a history of perinatal loss on state anxiety, pregnancy anxiety, and optimism. DESIGN: Comparative descriptive; cross-sectional. SETTING: Private obstetric offices in a small northeastern city in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: The sample included 160 women who were between 17 and 28 weeks ...

BACKGROUND: Animal studies show that prenatal maternal stress may be related to cognitive impairments in offspring. Therefore, we examined whether psychological and endocrinologic measures of stress during human pregnancy predicted developmental outcome of the infant at 3 and 8 months. METHOD: Self-report data about daily hassles and pregnancy-specific anxiety and ...

AIM: Maternal stress during pregnancy is a possible risk factor for schizophrenia in the offspring. Using data from the Israel Psychiatric Registry we examined the impact of wars in Israel. METHOD: Retrospective birth cohort study. RESULTS: Relative risks for cohorts exposed to Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War were 0.98 ...

OBJECTIVE: For the onset of illness and possible recurrence during the childbearing period, women with bipolar disorder (BD) are at a higher risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of clinical and psychosocial factors associated with pregnancy and the postpartum period on the course of BD. ...

This paper reviews the range of symptoms, timing and measurement of mood disturbance in the early puerperium. The prevalence and risk factors for postpartum blues and elation are discussed. The most convincing relationships are between blues and dysphoria during pregnancy, a past history of depression, neuroticism and premenstrual depression. Biological ...

Animal studies suggest that psychological factors may interfere with the development of brain asymmetry during gestation. We evaluated whether psychological exposure in pregnancy was associated with mixed-handedness in the offspring. In a follow-up design study, 824 Danish-speaking women with singleton pregnancies provided information on psychological distress and the occurrence of ...

PURPOSE: To determine the effects of heat shock treatment on cold cataract formation in bovine lenses. METHODS: A laser scanning system (ScanTox) was used to analyze the optical quality of bovine lenses during a cooling and warming cycle. Cycloheximide, a compound that prevents new protein synthesis was used to inhibit ...

Approximately 30% of women experience some type of anxiety disorder during their lifetime. Women with these disorders may experience profound changes in their symptoms during pregnancy and the postpartum period. In addition, some evidence exists that anxiety disorders can affect pregnancy outcomes. It is important that physicians understand the course ...

Increasing numbers of patients are being treated for mood disorders. Most of these patients, particularly those with the diagnosis of major depression, are women of childbearing years. Depression can also occur in the context of bipolar disorder. Concerns regarding fetal exposure to medication, either planned or unplanned, are becoming more ...

To examine the impact of an abnormal fetal echocardiogram (echo) on parental attitudes, emotions and coping strategies. Group interviews were performed for women and their male partners who had a fetal echo and were found to have a fetal congenital heart defect. The women and men were separated into four ...

BACKGROUND: This study was performed to examine the effect of stress on pregnancy outcome in women who underwent assisted reproductive technology (ART) procedures. METHODS: In a controlled clinical study of healthy volunteers in an academic research environment, stress was measured subjectively by administering patient questionnaires and biochemically by examining urinary ...

The psychological benefits of physical exercise have been reported in numerous populations. While studies have found elevated stress and depressed mood during pregnancy and no adverse birth effects associated with low to moderate intensity exercise, few have examined exercise in relation to psychosocial outcomes during pregnancy. The present study examined ...

With the aim of evaluating the effect of interaction between physical training or exercise only during pregnancy and thermal stress on oxidative stress, and antioxidant mechanism sedentary pregnant rats (PS), exercised pregnant rats only during pregnancy (PE) and trained rats submitted to also exercise during pregnancy (PT) were compared (N=63). ...

BACKGROUND: No epidemiological studies have been reported on the association between mothers' antenatal depression and criminality in their offspring. METHODS: The material consists of a general population cohort of 12059 children born in 1966 in Northern Finland and followed to the end of 1998. Mothers were asked at midgestation by ...

Studies in rodents and nonhuman primates indicate that maternal stress during pregnancy can influence the developing fetus, resulting in delay of motor and cognitive development and impaired adaptation to stressful situations. These effects may be mediated by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. We examined whether stress during pregnancy predicted developmental outcome ...

OBJECTIVE: Our primary objective was to evaluate the assumption that women carrying multiple fetuses and who have decided upon multifetal pregnancy reduction (MFPR) have a constant high level of anxiety. METHODS: A total of 66 multigestation women considering MFPR were asked to consider how anxious they were when they first ...

BACKGROUND: Existing research pertaining to emotional reactions to abortion is limited by (a) short follow up periods, (b) the absence of information on prior psychological state, and (c) lack of nationally representative samples. Therefore the purpose of this study was to compare women with a history of abortion vs. delivery ...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficiency and reliability of performing Burch colposuspension at the time of cesarean delivery for genuine stress urinary incontinence diagnosed before pregnancy. STUDY DESIGN: Eight women diagnosed with genuine stress urinary incontinence before pregnancy were included in this prospective, descriptive study. They underwent Burch colposuspension at the ...

Adverse pregnancy experiences were examined retrospectively in relation to adult lifetime experience of clinical depression to see whether such experience conferred long-term risk for women. The sample consisted of just under 200 community-based women, half of whom were selected for high depressive-risk on the basis of adverse childhood experience. Over ...

OBJECTIVE: To assess factors affecting first-time fathers' transition to parenthood. DESIGN: A longitudinal repeated measures study in which participants were interviewed in mid-pregnancy and completed assessments in late pregnancy, in early postpartum, and at 4 months postpartum. SELLING AND PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred twenty-five first-time fathers were recruited from a major ...

This review examines the contribution of recent research into the effects of anxiety during pregnancy. The focus of interest is upon the process of labor and delivery rather than its timing or the size of the baby. Therefore studies directed at areas of prematurity or low birthweight are specifically excluded ...

The authors hypothesize that preeclampsia is a stress-related disease and an evolutionary maladaptation of exaggerated stress during human pregnancy. Epidemiologic studies show that relative risk for preeclampsia is increased in many stressful situations. Many risk factors for preeclampsia are stress-related. Low-stress situations, on the contrary, are protective. Stress in pregnancy ...

BACKGROUND: Heat stress in early pregnancy is known to have a teratogenic effect. Exercise produces excess heat and during pregnancy might therefore present a theoretical risk of malformations. Our aim was to assess the thermal response to exercise of healthy pregnant women in a longitudinal study. METHODS: Fourteen women were ...

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate: (1) the associations between maternal psychological stress, distress and low birth weight (LBW), prematurity and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR); (2) the interactions between maternal stress, distress and smoking, alcohol and coffee intake; (3) the prevalences of stress and distress in pregnancy. DESIGN: Longitudinal cohort study. SETTING: Jundiaí ...

This study investigates whether maternal stress during pregnancy induces maternal and fetal hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) neuronal activation and the effects of maternal stress on fetal hypothalamic and PVN brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression. Pregnant rats were exposed to three types of maternal stress with varying severity (restraint, forced walking ...

Non-puerperal lactation and/or hyperprolactinemia in humans have been related to psychological variables in a variety of ways: (1) Non-puerperal nursing; (2) Pseudopregnancy; (3) Rapid weight gain; (4) Psychogenic galactorrhea; (5) Acute prolactin responses to psychological stress; (6) High prolactin levels in persons who cope passively in real life stress situations; ...

In this column, the author considers the impact of widespread crises and global tensions on pregnancy and early parenting. Childbirth educators can help alleviate the impact of societal stress on expectant families.

A. Antonovsky (1987) defined the sense of coherence (SOC) as the ability to perceive a stressor as comprehensible, manageable, and meaningful. In this prospective study of pregnant women, the authors tested the relationships between the SOC in early pregnancy and crisis support and symptom severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ...

With increasing understanding of BPSD, the question of whether there are differences between BPSD of AD and VaD may be raised. The available evidence from the Cache County Study, the role of vascular risk factors in late-life depression, and vascular pathology in AD and VaD all converge to explore the ...

One hundred sixty-six women were classified as experiencing high or low anxiety during the second trimester of pregnancy. The high anxiety women also had high scores on depression and anger scales. In a follow-up across pregnancy, the fetuses of the high anxiety women were noted to be more active and ...

This study examined (1). predictors for peritraumatic dissociation, (2). its relations with acute and chronic symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and (3). pathways regarding these relations in response to pregnancy loss. In early pregnancy, about 1370 women volunteers completed questionnaires for neuroticism, control over emotions, dissociative tendencies, absorption, and ...

BACKGROUND: Animal experiments have convincingly demonstrated that prenatal maternal stress affects pregnancy outcome and results in early programming of brain functions with permanent changes in neuroendocrine regulation and behaviour in offspring. AIM: To evaluate the existing evidence of comparable effects of prenatal stress on human pregnancy and child development. STUDY ...

In a follow-up of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) after pregnancy, the Italian CTS Study Group prospectively studied 63 pregnant women with multiple measurements of CTS symptoms. Fifty-four percent of women with CTS symptoms during pregnancy had symptoms 1 year later. Patients with onset of CTS symptoms early during pregnancy are ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether, in normal pregnancies, there is evidence of oxidative stress that is related to the lipid changes observed in pregnancy. DESIGN: Longitudinal study of healthy women having a normal pregnancy. Samples were obtained towards the end of each trimester and after 8 weeks postpartum. PATIENTS: Seventeen healthy ...

OBJECTIVE: Previous work suggested that first-trimester exposure to tricyclic antidepressants or fluoxetine does not affect adversely child IQ and language development. However, many women need antidepressants throughout pregnancy to avoid morbidity and suicide attempts. Little is known about the fetal safety of tricyclic antidepressants and fluoxetine when taken throughout pregnancy. ...

Behavioral perinatology is as an interdisciplinary area of research that involves conceptualization of theoretical models and conduct of empirical studies of the dynamic time-, place-, and context-dependent interplay between biological and behavioral processes in fetal, neonatal, and infant life using an epigenetic framework of development. The biobehavioral processes of particular ...

BACKGROUND: Unexplained miscarriage is speculated to be due to a Th1/Th2 cytokine imbalance at the feto-maternal interface and immunological functions are known to be under the influence of various psychological factors. Indeed, the psycho-neuro-immuno-endocrine network has been proposed to contribute to miscarriage. To assess whether psychological disorders might induce spontaneous ...

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively investigate in a cohort of pregnant women the association between obstetrical complications (OCs) and depressive symptomatology in the early postpartum period. METHOD: A total of 441 pregnant women attending the State Maternity Hospital in Bordeaux were interviewed during the third trimester of pregnancy, then at 3 days ...

Prenatal stress influences neural and behavioral sexual differentiation in rodents. Male offspring of stressed pregnancies show reduced masculine-typical characteristics and increased feminine-typical characteristics, whereas female offspring show the opposite pattern, reduced feminine-typical and increased masculine-typical characteristics. These outcomes resemble those seen following manipulations of gonadal hormones and are thought to ...

Building on two earlier experiments (Behav. Res. Ther. 34 (1996) 889; 39 (2001) 1439) the present study investigated the effects of neutralizing the consequences of an obsession-like thought in healthy participants. Just like in the earlier studies, writing out and thinking over such a thought generated anxiety. After this provocation, ...

Postpartum depression has been described as a thief that steals motherhood. Early recognition is one of the major challenges with this devastating mood disorder. This article describes a revised version of the Postpartum Depression Predictors Inventory (PDPI) based on the results of an updated meta-analysis. This revised inventory consists of ...

Substantial evidence from preclinical laboratory studies indicates that prenatal stress (PS) affects the hormonal and behavioural development of offspring. In the following review, the effects of PS in rodents and non-human primates on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) reactivity to stress, morphological changes in the brain, motor behaviour and learning are surveyed. PS ...

BACKGROUND: Animal experiments suggest that maternal stress and anxiety during pregnancy have long-term effects on the behaviour of the offspring. AIMS: To test the hypothesis that antenatal maternal anxiety predicts behavioural problems at age 4 years. METHOD: Data were collected on multiple antenatal and postnatal assessments of maternal anxiety and ...

This study examined the influence of role quality, relationship satisfaction, fatigue, and depression on women s sexuality during pregnancy and after childbirth. Questionnaire data were obtained from 138 women pregnant with their first child, of whom 104 responded at 12 weeks postpartum, and 70 responded at 6 months postpartum. Women ...

The assumption is frequently made that women with severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy are transforming psychological distress into physical symptoms. Psychoanalytic theory supporting this assumption is reviewed, along with the few methodologically flawed empirical studies that have been conducted. Little support can be found for the hypothesis that nausea ...

In the first part of this article, the authors discuss the effect of stress upon reproduction. The paper begins with a discussion of the various stressful factors that influence the functions of reproductive organs under various circumstances, including menarche, gestation and lactation. In general, physical and emotional stress has a ...

It is now clear that early experience influences the long-term development of behavioral, neuroendocrine, and cognitive systems in a number of animal species. This article examines the effects of early life stress on the development of the rodent. Postnatal maternal separation is often used as a potent early life stressor, ...