Wearable sensor for psychological stress monitoring of pregnant woman – State of the art

Maternal depression, a non-psychotic depressive episode of mild to major severity, is one of the major contributors of pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality. Maternal depression (antepartum or post partum) has been linked to negative health-related behaviours and adverse outcomes, including psychological and developmental disturbances in infants, children, and adolescents. Despite its enormous burden, maternal depression in low-income and middle-income countries remains under-recognised and undertreated. In this Series paper, we systematically review studies that focus on the epidemiology of perinatal depression (ie, during antepartum and post-partum periods) among women residing in low-income and middle-income countries. We also summarise evidence for the association of perinatal depression with infant and childhood outcomes. This review is intended to summarise findings from the existing literature, identify important knowledge gaps, and set the research agenda for creating new generalisable knowledge pertinent to increasing our understanding of the prevalence, determinants, and infant and childhood health outcomes associated with perinatal depression. This review is also intended to set the stage for subsequent work aimed at reinforcing and accelerating investments toward providing services to manage maternal depression in low-income and middle-income countries.

If a mother is stressed or anxious while pregnant her child is more likely to show a range of symptoms such as those of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, aggression or anxiety. While there remains some debate about what proportion of these effects are due to the prenatal or the postnatal environment, and the role of genetics, there is good evidence that prenatal stress exposure can increase the risk for later psychopathology. Why should this be? In our evolutionary history it is possible that some increase in these characteristics in some individuals was adaptive in a stressful environment, and that this type of fetal programming prepared the child or group for the environment in which they were going to find themselves. Anxiety may have been associated with increased vigilance, distractible attention with more perception of danger, impulsivity with more exploration, conduct disorder with a willingness to break rules, and aggression with the ability to fight intruders or predators. This adaptation for a future dangerous environment may explain why stress and anxiety, rather than depression, seem to have these programming effects; why there is a dose-response relationship with prenatal stress from moderate to severe and it is not only toxic stress that has consequences; why not all children are affected and why individual children are affected in different ways; and why the outcomes affected can depend on the sex of the offspring. An evolutionary perspective may give a different understanding of children in our society with these symptoms, and suggest new directions for research. For example, there is some evidence that the type of cognitive deficits observed after prenatal stress have specific characteristics; these may be those which were adaptive in a past environment. © 2011 The Author. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. © 2011 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Care for the emotional state of pregnant women remains a neglected aspect of obstetric medicine. Many prospective studies have shown that, if a mother is depressed, anxious, or stressed while pregnant, this increases the risk for her child having a wide range of adverse outcomes, including emotional problems, symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or impaired cognitive development. Although genetics and postnatal care clearly affect these outcomes, evidence for an additional prenatal causal component is substantial. Prenatal anxiety or depression may contribute 10-15% of the attributable load for emotional and behavioural outcomes. The Nurse Family Partnership remains the only intervention that starts in pregnancy and has been shown to have long-term benefits for the behaviour of the child. Several other interventions, however, are likely to be helpful. Depression, anxiety, and stress during pregnancy are frequently undetected by health professionals, and untreated. Programmes to help with this should eventually improve child outcome. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.